Turmoil in the US

These are interesting times in Washington DC. After two years of the Republican Party’s hold on both houses of Congress, control over the House of Representatives will pass over to the Democratic Party on January 3. Even ahead of this transition, there has been an impasse between US President Donald Trump and Congress.

The president has demanded that Congress, which controls all funding, must approve funds worth $5 billion for the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border. And Congress is not willing to go along with this proposal. Consequently, parts of the government have been shut down due to the lack of an approved budget.

The construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border had been a signature theme of Trump’s election campaign. He had always promised that Mexico would pay for it. Now, the president wants the US government to fund the project. The government’s partial shutdown has now entered its second week and may or may not be resolved soon. It is estimated that about 800,000 federal government workers have either been stopped from coming to work or are being forced to work without pay, at least for the time being.

This partial government shutdown is just the latest episode of the many twists and turns – both on the domestic and international fronts – seen during the first two years of the Trump administration.

This makes for interesting conversation at gatherings of the Pakistani-American community. With the holiday season in full swing, many such gatherings have been taking place. It is important to keep in mind that an overwhelming majority of immigrants, especially American Muslims, did not vote for Donald Trump. According to exit-poll data from the 2016 US elections, only about 13 percent of Muslims voted for Trump.

After all, Trump had promised that he would stop the entry of all Muslims into the US if elected. He further went on to assert on national television that “Islam hates us”. His comments can be directly attributed to the rise in hate incidents, some violent, against not only American-Muslims but also other minority communities.

Given this backdrop, it’s a wonder that any Muslims even voted for Trump. A few months into his administration, I watched a documentary on CNN titled ‘United Shades of America’. This episode was about Muslims in America. W Kamau Bell, the host, visited Dearborn, Michigan – a town with a large Arab Muslim population. The documentary generally presented a positive image of American Muslims and their contributions to the country.

During the documentary, Bell interviewed the imam of the Dearborn Mosque, one of the largest such institutions in the country. After voicing concern for what Muslims were enduring under this administration, Bell asked the imam whom he had voted for. Quite sheepishly, the imam replied that he had “voted for Republicans this time”. Kamau Bell, being the jovial kind, broke out in laughter. He was incredulous as to how members of a community could vote against their own interests.

At social gatherings of the Pakistani-American community, comments on this administration’s performance are mostly critical. But then, there are always one or two people in the group who remain silent – usually avoiding the conversation or making critical comments about Trump’s opponent. Of course, it becomes immediately clear who the Trump supporters are in this crowd of Pakistani-Americans.

Given how close the election results were, it can be safely said that the Muslim vote may have just put Donald Trump over the finish line – and we are left to face the consequences.

The writer is a Pakistani-American based in Washington DC.

Website: www.sqshareef.com /blogs.