Donald Trump's 'Muslim ban' won't make US safer, majority of Americans believe

According to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, less than half of US voters agreed with the ban – and opinions were split by party line

(Getty)

For all of Donald Trump’s claims that his travel ban affecting seven countries is to make Americans safer, less than a third of people believe it will do so.

Mr Trump’s executive order, signed 27 January, bars immigrants from the seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for three months. The order sparked protests this weekend, when hundreds of travellers were detained at airports around the country.

“To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting,” Mr Trump responded in a statement. “This is not about religion - this is about terror and keeping our country safe.”

But polling results show few Americans believe the ban will actually protect them. A Reuters/Ipsos poll, carried out between January 30 and 31, found just 31 per cent of people felt “more safe” due to the ban. Twenty-six per cent said the ban made them feel “less safe,” while 33 per cent said it would make no difference.

More than 900 US State Department employees have signed on to a letter claiming the ban would not improve national security. According to the letter, obtained by The Intercept, officers abroad witnessed “significant frustration and confusion” upon implementing the travel ban. The letter describes one embassy as “inundated” with frustrated green-card holders, visa holders, and applicants.

“This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country,” Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham said in a statement. “That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.”

Meanwhile, New America found only 12 refugees have been charged with, or killed in, acts of jihadist terrorism in the US since 2001. Almost 200 US-born citizens were charged with similar crimes over the same period.

Less than half of the Reuters poll respondents said they agreed with the order, although results were heavily divided by party. Fifty-three per cent of Democrats said they “strongly disagree” while the order, with 51 per cent of Republicans said they “strongly agree.”

The party divide continues all the way to Congress, where only 16 of the 293 Republicans spoke out against the ban. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, released a statement condemning it.

“The United States was built by immigrants and refugees,” the official Democratic Party account tweeted January 28. “Donald Trump's Muslim ban is immoral and illegal. The GOP should be ashamed.”