President Donald Trump fulfilled one of his most controversial campaign promises on Friday by blocking entry of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days, stopping all refugee admission for 120 days, and banning Syrian refugees indefinitely.

Naturally, there is heated debate surrounding this country’s willingness to accept refugees from war-torn or predominately Muslim countries, since terrorist attacks pose a threat to national security. However, a complete ban of an enormous group of people who are singled out due to religion, ideology or physical proximity to terrorist groups is not only unethical but also completely contrary to American values.

Republicans who disagree need look no further than Vice President Mike Pence’s Twitter account. Before he became vice president, Pence responded in December 2015 to a Trump proposal for an immigration ban by tweeting: “Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional.”

America was founded by people seeking religious freedom and a better life, so why is it now acceptable to shut out refugees who are victims of living in violent or war-torn countries?

Terrorism, hatred, and violence in the name of a religion is not acceptable. However, not every single person from a Muslim-majority country is a terrorist.

Targeting and suppressing an entire group of people based on religion is not a new concept of world history, but Americans always have taken pride in being better than that. Supporters of this ban need to realize that targeting an entire faction of people is not the way to end violence.

We are all humans trying to live our lives as we please in a peaceful, independent, and fulfilling way. It is time that we learn from history and say no to perpetual and over-generalized hatred. If America really wants to put an end to terrorism and violence, we should do so together and not at the expense of millions of peoples freedom.