This week, President Trump passed an executive order that re-admits refugees into the United States with tighter security. This Executive Order also states that 11 unidentified countries will face a further 90 days of assessment for potential threats. These policy changes align with actions already taken by Trump to severely decrease the number of refugees allowed into the United States. This tightened security and extended assessment of the refugees has the potential to keep many people out of the United States who are not terrorists, the group this policy attempts to target, but are impacted negatively by methods implemented on a society as a whole.
I believe this policy does not support the principle of utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principle, because by not allowing refugees to leave the country they are trying to and come to the United States Trump is keeping these refugees from achieving pleasure with the absence of pain. In Utilitarianism, I explain that actions that promote happiness are right, while actions that are wrong create the opposite of happiness.
Refugees who are attempting to leave their current country and come to the United States are trying to leave pain and unhappiness and find a life where they can find greater utility day to day. I believe that in order to achieve the greatest quantity and quality of happiness it is imperative that refugees are allowed into the United States without excessive hold-ups from policies that are vague and aggressive. The United States can afford safety and opportunities that are not currently available to these refugees; this will increase their utility immensely.
I argue that morality, or the rules that define human manner, is rooted in utility. Morality determines what ends are being pursued by society but; by denying refugees entry into the United States and subsequently a chance for the greatest quality and quantity of happiness, they are not allowed the chance at morality through comparison with the rest of society. It is my belief that, by making it inordinately difficult for refugees to enter the United States Trump is denying them of their right to happiness and, by my utilitarian view, subsequently hurting society as a whole.