For Steve Kerr, Donald Trump’s immigration ban hits close to home.
President Trump signed an executive order Friday barring immigration into the U.S. from seven countries with large Muslim populations, with the goal of curtailing “foreign terrorist entry” into America. Kerr’s father was killed by members of the Islamic Jihad in 1984 while serving as president of the American University of Beirut, so the Golden State Warriors coach personally has felt the impact of foreign terrorism.
But when asked about the president’s executive order Sunday night, Kerr came out unequivocally opposed to the ban.
“I would just say that, as someone whose family member was a victim of terrorism, having lost my father — if we’re trying to combat terrorism by banishing people from coming to this country, by really going against the principles of what our country is about and creating fear, it’s the wrong way of going about it,” Kerr told reporters after the Warriors’ win over the Portland Trail Blazers, via ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
“If anything, we could be breeding anger and terror. So, I’m completely against what’s happening. I think it’s shocking. It’s a horrible idea. I feel for all the people that are affected. Families are being torn apart, and I worry in the big picture what this means to the security of the world.
“It’s going about it completely opposite. You want to solve terror, you want to solve crime, this is not the way to do it.”
Several other sports figures and athletes also have voiced their displeasure over Trump’s executive order, but few have spoken as strongly as Kerr.
Thumbnail photo via Sam Sharpe/USA TODAY Sports Images
