Photo: AP

In a speech today, amid lots of other incoherence, Donald Trump articulated a newly expanded version of his xenophobic “ban Muslims” immigration policy. Consider the implications of this statement:

Trump said in his speech. “When I am elected,” Trump said in his speech, “I will suspend immigration from areas of the world when there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we understand how to end these threats.”

Last December, Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” In a long and illustrious year full of insane and repugnant statements by Donald Trump, that was the single most insane and repugnant statement by Donald Trump. Let us be very clear: he is now calling for an expansion of this insane and repugnant policy.

Trump says he would block immigrants coming from any “areas of the world” with a “history of terrorism” against not only the US, but also “our allies.” You may want to peruse this list of some of America’s most awkward allies. Under a Trump presidency, we can expect not only a blanket ban on Muslim immigrants, but also on immigrants from any nation that is antagonistic with Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia, or Egypt. Sorry, India—no immigration! Sorry, Israel—stay out! And add to that any nation whose citizens have ever committed violence against Ethiopia, Honduras, or Kyrgystan! It is not long before our list of allies and enemies folds in on itself like a black hole. Besides being embarrassingly xenophobic and utterly stupid, this policy proposal is self-defeating on its face. The fact that he ends it by saying “until we understand how to end these threats” guarantees that the policy will have no expiration date, ever.

And, of course, if we bar anyone from coming here from a place with “a proven history of terrorism against the United States,” we will be shutting down immigration from one nation in particular: the United States.