'It Is an Abuse of Power'

This interview is part of Broadly's Voices Against the Ban series. You can read more of these voices here.

Broadly: Why do you oppose Trump's immigration restrictions?

Justine, 27, Markham: Simply put? Because it is an abuse of power steeped in racism and Islamophobia. It is a slippery slope and a terrifying step towards a mass expulsion of Muslims. History has taught us how this will end if we continue to move in this direction.

"If I could tell President Trump one thing about these immigration restrictions, I would say…"

I'm gonna switch this one up and instead say, if I could tell Trudeau one thing about these immigration restrictions and Canada's role, it's that it's time we practice what we preach. We need to step up with an outright condemnation of this executive order and also take action towards ending our country's own racist legislation—from the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act to Bill C51 to indefinite immigration detention. We've got our own shit to work on.

Do you have any additional comments about the new immigration orders?

The primary focus in the past week or so has been the halt on refugee arrivals and the ban on citizens from the seven Muslim-majority countries, but there's so much more to that executive order that we're not paying enough attention to… Section 5, for instance, gives Homeland Security the broad sweeping power to remove any legal or illegal immigrant convicted of any crime. More than that, it gives so much unchecked authority to custom officials to decide who is detained, admitted, or deported from the US. The devil is in the details and we are only reacting to a fraction of what's there. It's tough work but we need to stay vigilant and informed, now more than ever.

This interview has been edited and condensed.