Will Trump's America be a nation of ugly self-interest and ignorance? Column

I grew up in Atlanta but now live in New England. Since last Sunday, my social media exchanges with Atlanta friends have focused on the upcoming Super Bowl. But something has happened that is bigger than the Falcons and the Pats, bigger than Red states and Blue states.  It is fundamentally about American values and also the security of these United States, regardless of where we live, how we voted or what team we’re rooting for.

On Friday, President Trump issued a new executive order on refugees.

To assess the new policy, I ask three questions:

• Is it based on facts?
• Will it make us safer?
• Is it consistent with long-held American values?  

The president recently told ABC News that we are “allowing people to come in who, in many cases or in some cases, are looking to do tremendous destruction. … They're ISIS. They're coming under false pretense.”

The facts say otherwise. A recent study looking at the risks of immigration and terrorism concluded that the odds of being killed by a foreign born terrorist entering the US are more than one in 3 million per year. A terrorist attack by a refugee?  One in 3.6 billion. A terrorist attack by illegal immigrant? One in roughly 11 billion. You are far, far more likely to be killed by your spouse than a terror attack, let alone an attack perpetrated by a terrorist entering under “false pretense.”

Some might say, “well, even if the risk is 1 in a zillion, that is one too many, so why allow any people in?” That is an understandable response. National security professionals will tell you, however, that there is no such thing as zero risk. But let’s set that aside, and take seriously the idea that we don’t want to risk even a single additional death by terrorism. That brings us to the second question.

Trump's extreme vetting for refugees? Already here: Column

9/11 border lessons still ignored in US, Belgium: Column

Will the executive order make us safer? No. It will actually undermine our national security. Terrorism is not a threat that we can solve by ourselves. And we can’t simply pull back and hide. Victory requires the cooperation of our friends, and in particular Muslim countries – their governments and their citizens. The overwhelming number of victims of terrorist attacks are Muslims. Either we fight this together or we lose separately. The executive order will make international cooperation more difficult, increase animosity towards the United States, and strengthen the hands of ISIS to recruit followers and make the case that the US is anti-Islam.

Finally, we should ask if the executive order is consistent with American values. It’s not enough to say you are a great country. You have to act like a great country. You have to put your money where your mouth is. When it comes to the Second Amendment, many say that it must be protected even if that comes at a cost of thousands of people killed in gun violence each year. They say that some ideas are worth the dangers and the costs. So what about other American principles like openness and fairness? How is it that we can invade Iraq, unleash chaos and then turn our back on the mess we made and say to families fleeing persecution that “you’re on your own”?

We expect soldiers and aid workers, police and medical personnel, and, yes, even regular citizens to rush towards the danger — not run away and leave people to their fate. We did that in Boston during the Marathon Bombing. The people of Boston know a thing or two about terror attacks, but we have reaffirmed our commitment to accepting refugees.

Trump's refugee ban is frightfully arbitrary: Our view

Slapdash Trump order ignores real danger: Max Boot

We say America has a special purpose; we say we are a shining beacon. But the executive order says America should shut the door on children and families. So which is it? Which country is America, because you can't have both ways? Are we a country of values and principles or a country of ugly self-interest and ignorance?

This is not about President Trump.  It is not about conservatives and liberals or Red States and Blue States.  It’s about the American vision and whether we --those on watch during this moment in history—have the will and capacity to keep the American project alive.  It’s about patriots, not the ones playing in the Super Bowl against the Falcons, but real patriots defending what has justly been called the most important experiment in modern history: the United States of America.

Jim Walsh, a senior research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology' Security Studies Program, was director of Harvard University’s Managing the Atom project. 

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @USATOpinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To submit a letter, comment or column, check our submission guidelines.