On January 27, 2017 President Trump signed an executive order also known as the “refugee ban.” The order halved the annual number of refugees accepted into the U.S., suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days, and completely banned from entry any refugees fleeing Syria.

Over 35,000 Global Citizens have taken action to oppose the refugee ban. Global Citizens supported an open letter to President Trump, called their Senators and House members, and tweeted at the Department of Homeland Security to ask Secretary John Kelly to work with President Trump to rescind the executive order.

Take Action: Sign an Open Letter Calling on Trump to Reverse This Executive Order

Facing widespread backlash on the original executive order’s rough rollout and following strong judicial decisions by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, President Trump was forced to rescind his previous executive order and replace it with a watered-down version. Alongside a strong and independent judicial system, the actions of thousands of Global Citizens helped pave the way to the Trump Administration’s response.

While the earlier language of the executive order placed an immediate ban on refugees from seven nations, the new version provides a 90-day suspension of visa processing as the administration continues to analyze how to enhance vetting procedures. In addition, Iraq has been removed from the list leaving Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen as focus countries for the executive order.

At Global Citizen we helped mobilize over 35,000 concerned citizens to stand up to this bad policy by the Trump administration. We still feel the new “refugee ban” continues to wrongly blames innocent refugees, some of the most vulnerable in our community.

A refugee entering the United States already goes through the most extensive vetting and screening process in the world. Furthermore, cutting refugee intake from 110,000 per year under President Obama to just 50,000 per year in 2017 is unacceptable. Refugees are amongst the most vulnerable people in the world; fleeing disaster, conflict and crises. There are nearly 21.3 million refugees worldwide, over half of whom are under the age of 18.

As Global Citizens, we cannot turn our backs to the world’s most vulnerable. We must stand together in solidarity with those fleeing persecution, violence, and war. We urge President Trump to rescind this executive order, once and for all.