Kal Penn attends the 2016 Global Citizen Festival In Central Park To End Extreme Poverty By 2030 at Central Park on September 24, 2016 in New York City. (Photo : Getty Images for Global Citizen/Noam Galai)
Kal Penn gave a non-typical response to a racist troll who told him on Instagram "you don't belong in this country you f****ng joke." Penn initiated a charitable endeavor on Jan. 28, Saturday, through a crowdfunding page for Syrian refugees.
The "House" actor, who was born in New Jersey to Indian immigrants, titled the fundraising effort "Donating to Syrian refugees in the name of the dude who said I don't belong in America" and outlined his mission. The page said: "We are better than the hateful people who tell us we don't belong in our own country."
Penn's crowdfunding page added that they will turn those hateful people's and the United State president's racism into love. The charitable move was launched amidst the chaos caused by President Donald Trump's controversial ban.
The support for Penn's crowdfunding effort has been considerable, since many are resisting the ban. It has raised over $650,000 in donations as of Jan. 30, Monday. The money goes to the International Rescue Committee to help Syrian refugees.
"Usually, I ignore that stuff. But then I thought, this is ridiculous," Penn told Los Angeles Times. We've, unfortunately, seen a rise in rhetoric like this because of the president's own rhetoric on things like this."
The 39-year-old actor who had briefly worked for the Obama administration added that the country is no longer the America he knows and loves. He believes many people feel the same.
Trump implemented the executive order on Jan. 27, Friday, temporarily banning people from entering the U.S. It states that all refugees as well as people from Syria, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Libya and Sudan cannot enter the U.S.
Government agencies appeared to be unprepared for the change which resulted to an unknown number of U.S. visa holders abroad to be stranded. Those having dual citizenships who were born in any of the listed countries are included in the ban.
The executive order means that about 134 million people are now not temporarily not allowed to enter or reenter the U.S. The order also throws thousands of U.S. residents with permanent visas into legal limbo and triggered backlash and protests across the country, the New York Magazine reported.
Here is a scoop of Trump's ban:
