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Mark Zuckerberg, Sophia Bush, George Takei and Other Celebs Denounce Donald Trump’s ‘Shameful’ Muslim Ban

Fighting back. Celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg, Sophia Bush, George Takei and Kal Penn denounced Donald Trump’s Muslim ban in posts to social media, calling it everything from “shameful” to “evil” to “heartless.”

The new president signed an executive order on Friday, January 27, that temporarily stop refugees and citizens from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., as well as an indefinite ban on refugees fleeing war-torn Syria. Trump also instated a new religious test for refugees from Muslim nations, which will presumably give an advantage to Christians and other minority religions over Muslims.

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“We don’t want them here,” the former Apprentice host, 70, said during a press conference, noting that his executive order was part of an extreme vetting plan to keep “radical Islamic terrorists” out of the country. “We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas. We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country, and love deeply our people.”

Facebook founder and CEO Zuckerberg, 32, used his large social media platform to share his thoughts on the ban, noting that “we are a nation of immigrants.”

Mark Zuckerberg, Sophia Bush and George Takei

“My great grandparents came from Germany, Austria and Poland,” he began his lengthy post on Friday. “[My wife] Priscilla’s parents were refugees from China and Vietnam. The United States is a nation of immigrants, and we should be proud of that. … We need to keep this country safe, but we should do that by focusing on people who actually pose a threat. Expanding the focus of law enforcement beyond people who are real threats would make all Americans less safe by diverting resources, while millions of undocumented folks who don’t pose a threat will live in fear of deportation.”

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Penn, 39, meanwhile, started a fundraising page for Syrian refugees, tweeting about the initiative on Saturday, January 28. Within 11 minutes, the Harold and Kumar star, who worked in the White House under President Barack Obama, let his followers know that he had already reached half of his $10,000 goal. “It’s only been 11 minutes & we’re halfway to the donor goal, I’m gonna set a new goal, this is awesome. #RefugeesWelcome #Resist 🇺🇸.” 

And 79-year-old Star Trek alum and activist Takei made one very important point in a post to Twitter. “I hope we’re all paying attention,” he tweeted on Thursday, January 26, before the executive orders were signed.

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The veteran actor shared a link to a Bloomberg article that pointed to all the countries in the Middle East not affected by the ban — which also happen to be nations that Trump has done business with in the past: Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, among others.

See what other celebs are saying about Trump’s historic ban.

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