I am an Iranian-American, an immigrant, a Muslim, an immigration attorney, and a mother of four. America is a country based on fundamental principles — liberty, justice, and freedom from religious discrimination, for all people. The executive order banning people from predominantly Muslim countries runs contrary to these principles.

Further, the waiver process to obtain a visa has been shown to be a sham. There are rare waiver approvals, typically after significant advocacy, such as one granted to my Iranian client seeking to donate bone marrow to his brother, a US citizen dying of cancer. But there are many thousands of deserving applicants without hope, whose applications have been denied or have not been adjudicated.

We as a country will lose when we turn our back on our history as a nation of immigrants. Immigration has allowed us to share our cultures and build bridges of understanding that are worth preserving. Years from now, when we look back on the tragedies taking place at our borders with young children torn away from their parents, the Supreme Court’s travel ban decision essentially upholding religious discrimination under the guise of national security, and the countless other negative immigration policy changes, I believe that we as Americans will realize that we strayed from the principles that the Fourth of July commemorates.

Mahsa Khanbabai

North Easton

The writer is vice chair of the New England chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.