Tuesday January 31, 2017
By Steve Crump
| WBTV Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Take a taxi ride in Charlotte, and there's a better than average possibly that the person behind the wheel is from a foreign country.
In fact, many cab drivers have made their way to the U.S. from so-called Muslim countries where the President Donald Trump's ban is now in place.
Muhdin Fiddow escaped the environment of war and famine in his native Somalia during the mid-1990's. He's been in the states for the last two decades, and now operates a Charlotte taxi company and local limo service.
Regarding the ban, he feels people are being singled out unfairly.
"It's not right. It's not fair, “he said. ”We can see it."
Fiddow, who is now an American citizen, is among the many speaking out against President Trump's executive order that limits who can and can't enter the United States.
Fiddow told WBTV, “Well we worry of course, but the drivers here, they're mostly citizens or they're not intending to travel."
Worry is the new normal for a number of drivers.
It's not just the individuals from the country's that are now banned, but we found a taxi driver from Tunisia who didn't want to give his name but says his fellow drivers are fearful of leaving the U.S. because coming back presents its share of uncertainty. They worry about getting back in.
"It's been bad," according to this cab operator. “Even some of the drivers, it looks like they want to travel, but they don't want to do it right now."
While there is a feeling of defeat, Fiddow isn't giving up on why he came to this country.
"It doesn't matter what color you are and what religion you carry to exercise the freedom of religion or the freedom of speech, and that's what we believe in," he said.