Military personnel use #iwillprotectyou hashtag to reassure Muslim girl scared by Donald Trump

The hashtag appeared in response to a posting on social media by the girl's mother

Melissa Yassini's daughter Sofia (AP)

What difference can a humble hashtag make?

For one young Muslim girl, at least, military service members and veterans were able to use the hashtag #iwillprotectyou to reassure the youngster she would not be deported from the US after Donald Trump’s controversial proposals to ban Muslims.

Melissa Yassini of Dallas, Texas, said she came home earlier this month to find her eight-year-old daughter, Sofia, packing her bags.

Melissa Yassini said her daughter was frightened after hearing Donald Trump's comments (AP)

“She had began collecting all her favourite things in a bag in case the army came to remove us from our homes,” Ms Yassini wrote on Facebook.

“She checked the locks on the door three-to-four times. This is terrorism. No child in America deserves to feel that way.”

Ms Yassini made the post after the Republican frontrunner made a series of outspoken statements about Muslims in the aftermath of the mass shooting in San Bernardino. A Muslim couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people and injured more than 20, before they were themselves shot dead by police.

Following the attack, Mr Trump said the US should stop allowing Muslim migrants or refugees to enter the country.

“We have no idea who is coming into our country, no idea if they like us or hate us,” he told told supporters. A subsequent survey found that a third of Americans supported the tycoons’s position.

ABC News reported that Ms Yassini's post went viral and was shared more than 20,000 times. Kerri Peek, an army veteran saw the story on social media and was horrified.

“I was up all night, it bothered me,” said Ms Peek. “I’m a mum for mother to mother. I know you want to protect your children from everything.”

Ms Peek said she was especially upset that Sofia was worried about soldiers coming to take her away.

“What’s a way for her to know that soldiers are not going to come to her door,” said Ms Peek, who eventually sent her a picture of herself in her army uniform.

Included with the photo was a message, she said: “Here's a picture of me as a mom and soldier and I’ll come to protect you.”

Ms Peek also asked her friends to send Sofia messages of support. She started a hashtag, #iwillprotectyou, and requested other military service members and veterans on social media to pledge to protect Muslim children such as Sofia from being discriminated against.

“Post a picture of you in uniform with the hashtag '#WillProtectYou' to let these children know that we will not hurt them. That they are safe here in America,” she wrote on Facebook.

One poster, Anthony Raffety, wrote: “Sofia, as an American, Marine & father, your story breaks my heart. Do not fear, Sofia, we will protect you.”

Another, Elizabeth April, wrote: “Sofia, u r the reason I serve. I don't ask what religion ppl r b4 I help them: I just do.”

Ms Peek said she has even heard from Ms Yassini about Sofia’s reaction to the new hashtag.

“She said she's been reading the posts to her daughter and her daughter feels so much better knowing that she's a part of America,” she said.