"Refugees are men, women and children caught in the fury of war, or the cross hairs of persecution. Far from being terrorists, they are often the victims of terrorism themselves."
These powerful words were penned by Oscar winning actress and special envoy of the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees Angelina Jolie in her latest op-ed piece for the New York Times.
It comes as the latest celebrity response to U.S President Donald Trump controversial immigration ban, which suspends visas from several Muslim-majority countries and temporarily halts the United States' entire refugee resettlement program.
Facts, not fear
Trump's order, which calls for a temporary ban for seven Muslim-majority countries -namely people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen-- could include others in the future. It also suspends the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely –likely to be the most affected by the extreme vetting process.
"The global refugee crisis and the threat from terrorism make it entirely justifiable that we consider how best to secure our borders,” she said. “Every government must balance the needs of its citizens with its international responsibilities. But our response must be measured and should be based on facts, not fear."
The issue is extremely personal for Jolie, especially since many of her children are not U.S. born. The actress and filmmaker is known for her humanitarian work, especially her efforts to aid Syrian refugees.
"As the mother of six children, who were all born in foreign lands and are proud American citizens, I very much want our country to be safe for them, and all our nation's children," she said.
"But I also want to know that refugee children who qualify for asylum will always have a chance to plead their case to a compassionate America. And that we can manage our security without writing off citizens of entire countries -- even babies -- as unsafe to visit our country by virtue of geography or religion."
Trump's Executive Order is a fear based measure
Trump has defended his actions by saying he was establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America.
“We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas. We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people," he said.
But, the facts spell a different reality
Zero refugees from the seven countries included in the travel ban have killed anyone in a terror attack on U.S. soil in the last 40 years, the CATO Institute has confirmed.
“If we create a tier of second-class refugees, implying Muslims are less worthy of protection, we fuel extremism abroad, and at home we undermine the ideal of diversity cherished by Democrats and Republicans alike: ‘America is committed to the world because so much of the world is inside America,’" Jolie said invoking the words of Ronald Reagan.
"If we send a message that it is acceptable to close the door to refugees, or to discriminate among them on the basis of religion, we are playing with fire. We are lighting a fuse that will burn across continents, inviting the very instability we seek to protect ourselves against."
Cold hard facts, again and again
Since the 80s, the nationals of countries Trump has banned in order to "protect the United States" have killed zero civilians in the U.S. In contrast the United States has killed over 24,000 in 2016 alone.
Truth will always prevail over alternative facts.