LONG ISLAND CITY — When Darius Nemati heard then-Republican nominee Donald Trump discussing plans to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., he thought it was just a ploy to garner votes from xenophobic supporters before the election.
“I really didn’t think he would be that extreme in practice,” Nemati, a Persian rug dealer whose father immigrated to New York from Iran in the 1960s, said Monday.
But when Trump signed an executive order Friday night barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for the next three months, his biggest concern was that the message would be lost in translation overseas.
“The governments in these countries take what’s said here and blow it up even more,” Nemati said. “The American government makes a statement saying, ‘We’re going to scrutinize visas more,’ and the press in Iran starts saying, ‘Iranians are in danger in the U.S. and it’s a dangerous place to go for Muslims.’ Then (immigrants) get calls from people back home saying, ‘Come back, come back! It’s not safe for you there!’”
On Saturday night, a Brooklyn judge issued a ruling temporarily blocking the deportation of people with valid refugee applications and other proper visas, but over the weekend, dozens of travelers were being detained at JFK airport.
Still, Nemati said, the confusion and misinformation that quickly spreads victimizes less-educated people.
“There’s so much panic going on, but a lot of it is needless,” he said. “It’s a little bit of crazy politics as usual.”
Nemati said the executive order was nothing but a petty political ploy aimed at the wrong group.
“I think this is all about grand standing with no regard to actual human beings caught in the middle,” Namati said. “If they really wanted to target countries that export terrorists, why are Saudi Arabia and Pakistan not on the list?”
