No local impact in travel ban … yet

African American History: New museum set to open this week in Houma
January 31, 2017
Fletcher helped by Synergy donation
January 31, 2017
African American History: New museum set to open this week in Houma
January 31, 2017
Fletcher helped by Synergy donation
January 31, 2017

No direct repercussions for Bayou Region residents have been reported so far as a result of President Donald Trump’s sweeping and rapid executive order restricting travel and admission to the U.S. of non-citizens from seven majority-Muslim nations.


But some people with local ties could be affected in the near future, said the spiritual leader of the region’s only Muslim house of worship. Sheikh Benyahia Abderazak, imam at the Islamic Center of Houma on Industrial Boulevard, says he is saddened by a belief that the travel restrictions are a thinly-veiled policy directed at people of his faith.

“They are fighting Islam and there is no other agenda behind it,” said Abderazak. “To say anything other than this is hypocrisy.”

An executive order signed Friday by Trump suspends admission of all refugees to the U.S. for 120 days, which would not have an effect on anyone living here, with an indefinite ban on those from Syria. Entry to the U.S. by people traveling from Syria, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Iraq is heavily restricted for the next three months. The President, in signing the order, said he was doing so to “keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America.”


The lightning order has spurred major protests at U.S. airports, where volunteer attorneys have set up shop offering counsel to people who have been detained. Federal judges in several U.S. jurisdictions have ordered a halt to enforcement of some provisions.

Members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation have voiced support of Trump’s executive order, among them Rep. Steve Scalise who is the House Majority Whip.

“I applaud President Trump for taking swift action to secure the border,” Scalise said. “Securing America’s borders is a basic responsibility of the federal government. It is absolutely critical to our national security that we stem the flow of illegal immigration and stand up for the rule of law.”


Critics of the president have questioned how much the rule of law is being respected by the administration itself, accusing federal officials in some cases of ignoring direct court orders. The degree to which this has occurred is not immediately verifiable.

Abderazak, a vocal critic of ISIS and Al Quaeda, said he has fears for Muslims seeking to escape the terrorist actions of such groups, for whom the U.S. should be a haven. A naturalized U.S. citizen who is a native of Algeria, which is not on the ban list, Abderazak said he will be speaking this week with a medical student assigned to Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center who may be affected by the rules.

The travel restrictions could relate to visits to or from family members for some locals.


Many of the local mosque’s members work or own businesses in Houma and close-by communities. Those who are not permanent U.S. citizens hail from a variety of nations, although few would appear to be from nations on the list. At least some have known to have ties to Yemen. At least one member of the prayer group who attended Ramadan services last year is from Somalia.

Jacob Batte, a spokesman for Nicholls State University, said Nicholls has one student from Iran.

Batte was not certain what, if any affect, the restrictions will have on him.


Abderazak, who maintains that ISIS is a creature of both the CIA and the Israeli Mossad, professed his love for the U.S. nonetheless and disappointment at what he sees as a radical departure by Trump from standard U.S. policy.

“I thought America is a real democracy but this proves it is not,” he said. “It is my free will to live in this country, and to say what American law allows me to say peacefully.”

Abderazak said he fears Al Quaeda and ISIS more than he does any potential safety risks for peaceful Muslims in the U.S.


“I am more afraid of ISIS and Al Quaeda. They want to eliminate the good Muslims. They have already killed more Muslims than they have killed anyone else,” the imam said. “That is their purpose. If you are a fanatic Muslim you are not a Muslim. That is what the Quaran says, what the prophets said. All the prophets of God, including Moses and Jesus, all said the mission is to love one another and to worship God your creator.” •

Travel Ban