Never Mind 'Shithole Countries,' Trump Wants Immigrants From Norway

President Donald Trump on Thursday, in a meeting with senators to discuss immigration, questioned why the United States would want to take immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and nations in Africa, referring to them as “shithole countries.”

The president proposed rather, the U.S. bring in immigrants from Norway.

On being briefed by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, on a newly drafted immigration bill commended by a bipartisan group of senators, Trump asked: “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?”

"Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They're shithole countries ... We should have more people from Norway," the president questioned, while the lawmakers tried to explain some immigration programs were intended to provide safe haven to people suffering from natural disasters or civil strife in their own countries.

Trump on Wednesday met with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in a press conference, during which he praise the Scandinavian country.

Sources familiar with the conversation said Trump specifically questioned the need for Haitians in the U.S., telling lawmakers they must be left out of any deal.

The president's comment "smacks of blatant racism, the most odious and insidious racism masquerading poorly as immigration policy," according to Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.

And the subtle implications were hard to miss. Trump throughout his campaign and presidency has singled out Hispanics, blacks and Muslims. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, Norway’s demographics comprise of 83.2 percent of ethnic Norwegians (this includes about 60,000 Sami), other Europeans make up 8.3 percent and a further 8.5 percent are classified under “Other.”

Norway is one of the most homogeneous countries in Europe, if not the world. Josh Dawsey from the Washington Post pointed out the president also identified another region in the world worthy of praise.

“The president, according to a White House official, also suggested he would be open to more immigrants from Asian countries because they help the United States economically,” Dawsey wrote. And it is worth pointing out Japan and South Korea are two of the least ethnically diverse countries in the world.

For people roughing it out in the cold Nordic country, this seeming invitation may not be all that appealing.

Paul Thornton writing for the Los Angeles Times says: “The Scandinavian social democracy, as its two linguistically similar neighbors do, has a higher per-capita GDP, life expectancy and, for what it’s worth, “happiness” rating than the United States. It also has universal healthcare, a ridiculously large sovereign wealth fund and top-notch infrastructure.”

“In fact, the Norwegian Americans I know often share stories of Googling citizenship requirements — hoping there’s some kind of loophole for the grandchildren or even great-grandchildren of emigrants — when they return to the States after a visit to the Old Country,” Thornton adds.

Ironically those Norwegian Americans Googling Norway’s citizenship requirements had their break when Trump became president.

The Ringerike region just northwest of Oslo, following Trump’s election, created an economic development recruitment effort in November 2016 called “Emigrate Me” for Americans who wanted to be “anywhere but here [U.S.].”

The effort included an elaborate website for Americans, especially the ones of Norwegian descent, looking to flee the U.S.

A UN official Friday branded Trump’s comments "racist."

Spokesperson Rupert Coleville said: “If confirmed these are shocking and shameful comments from the President of the United States.”
“There is no other word you can use but ‘racist,’” Coleville added. “You cannot dismiss entire countries and continents as ‘s---holes,’ whose entire populations are not white, are therefore not welcome.”

"This isn't just a story about vulgar language, it's about opening the door to humanity's worst side, about validating and encouraging racism and xenophobia," he pointed, according to the Independent.
The African Union (AU) that represents all 55 countries on the continent were “frankly alarmed” by Trump’s comments.
AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said: “Given the historical reality of how many Africans arrived in the United States as slaves, this statement flies in the face of all accepted behavior and practice."
"This is particularly surprising as the United States of America remains a global example of how migration gave birth to a nation built on strong values of diversity and opportunity," Kalondo added.