As Trump administration officials on Monday laid out the details of the president’s revised executive order suspending travel to the U.S. from six Muslim-majority countries, one senior official insisted: “We want to stress at the outset, there was nothing wrong with that first executive order, itself.” Tacitly, however, the replacement order illustrates just how flawed was…
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Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, wrote on Monday:
When Donald Trump signed his Muslim ban in January, millions of Americans spoke out to say that his ban did not represent us. We marched on the White House, called our representatives in Congress, and made our voices heard at airports around the country.
Today, Donald Trump signed a new version of the Muslim ban. His first ban took an incredible, inhumane toll on thousands of innocent people. As Democrats, we have a responsibility to fight back.
For those who quit their jobs, sold their homes and possessions, and left their lives behind to seek out a better life in this country only to be turned away at our borders, we must fight back.
For the five-year-old boy and the 90-year-old grandmother who were separated from their families and detained, alone, for hours, we must fight back.
For the sick people seeking medical treatment and the doctors coming to this country to treat them who were sent away, we must fight back.
For the brave men and women who risked their lives and their families’ lives to help our troops, only to have us renege on our promise of a better life in the United States, we must fight back.
For the Muslim Americans who have borne the brunt of a new wave of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the wake of this ban, we must fight back.
I’ve seen firsthand the difference we can make when we refuse to accept the hateful, immoral, unconstitutional actions of the Trump administration. Today, I’m asking you to join me and send Donald Trump a message loud and clear that we will not accept this new Muslim ban:
Zionist Organization of America President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:
The ZOA praises President Trump for today issuing a new “Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States;” and a “Memorandum for the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security” regarding “implementing immediate heightened screening and vetting of applications for visas and other immigration benefits, ensuring enforcement of all laws for entry into the United States, and increasing transparency among departments and agencies of the federal government and for the American people.”
The President’s Executive Order and memorandum call for a review of and needed enhancements to our inadequate immigrant vetting and screening procedures, including assuring collection of all information needed to evaluate an immigrants’ admissabilty, in-person interviews, databases to prevent use of duplicate documents by two or more applicants, questions aimed at identifying fraudulent answers, mechanisms for assuring that applicants are who they say they are, and mechanisms to assess the likelihood an applicant will commit or support terrorist acts, etc.
Each of these countries is a state sponsor of terrorism, has been significantly compromised by terrorist organizations, or contains active conflict zones. Any of these circumstances diminishes the foreign government’s willingness or ability to share or validate important information about individuals seeking to travel to the United States.
The Executive Order also fulfills the president’s basic duty of protecting the nation by suspending entry by nationals from six nations (Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen) where current screening abilities are inadequate, resulting in an unacceptable risk that individuals who intend to commit, aid or support terrorist acts here will infiltrate into the U.S.
The Executive Order aptly notes that:
“Each of these countries is a state sponsor of terrorism, has been significantly compromised by terrorist organizations, or contains active conflict zones. Any of these circumstances diminishes the foreign government’s willingness or ability to share or validate important information about individuals seeking to travel to the United States. Moreover, the significant presence in each of these countries of terrorist organizations, their members, and others exposed to those organizations increases the chance that conditions will be exploited to enable terrorist operatives or sympathizers to travel to the United States.”
The Executive Order then details the reasons why screening is inadequate and poses too much risk of entry of terrorists for each of the six specified nations. For example, among other problems, Iran, Syria and Sudan are designated state sponsors of terrorism, and Iran “continues to support various terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and terrorist groups in Iraq. Iran has also been linked to support for al-Qa’ida and has permitted al-Qa’ida to transport funds and fighters through Iran to Syria and South Asia.”
The Executive Order also provides the facts needed to counteract the false claims that such refugees have not previously endangered our national security or engaged in terrorism in the U.S. – claims that were raised to attack previous Executive Order 13769.
The new Executive Order explains that:
“Recent history shows that some of those who have entered the United States through our immigration system have proved to be threats to our national security. Since 2001, hundreds of persons born abroad have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes in the United States. They have included not just persons who came here legally on visas but also individuals who first entered the country as refugees. For example, in January 2013, two Iraqi nationals admitted to the United States as refugees in 2009 were sentenced to 40 years and to life in prison, respectively, for multiple terrorism-related offenses. And in October 2014, a native of Somalia who had been brought to the United States as a child refugee and later became a naturalized United States citizen was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction as part of a plot to detonate a bomb at a crowded Christmas-tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. The Attorney General has reported to me that more than 300 persons who entered the United States as refugees are currently the subjects of counterterrorism investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In addition, categorical exceptions and numerous examples of humane circumstances in which case-by-case waivers may be applied are built into the new Executive Order, including family and business hardships, medical issues, persons who have performed valuable service to the U.S. government, etc. The new Executive Order also fixes the problems of the previous order related to suspensions of persons who already had visas and/or were already in transit – and does not apply to persons in such circumstances.
Further, the new Executive Order no longer suspends entry of Iraqis, because “since Executive Order 13769 was issued, the Iraqi government has expressly undertaken steps to enhance travel documentation, information sharing, and the return of Iraqi nationals subject to final orders of removal.” Instead decisions about issuance of visas or granting admission to Iraqi nationals are merely to be “subjected to additional scrutiny to determine if applicants have connections with ISIS or other terrorist organizations, or otherwise pose a risk to either national security or public safety.”
In sum, the new Executive Order addresses and fixes perceived problems with prior Executive Order 13769, and, along with the accompanying memorandum, is an important step towards keeping Americans (especially including American Jews) safe.
In light of the revised White House Travel Ban from Six Muslim majority countries of today, David Bernstein, President and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, issued the following comments:
“While the revised Executive Order makes a few changes that limit the effect of the original ban, we continue to oppose such a travel ban because it reduces the number of refugees coming into this country and still specifically names Muslim-majority countries. There’s no evidence that refugees from these countries represent a special threat.
“I’m very concerned about the overall impact of the Executive Order, deportations and remarks about immigration coming from the White House. America is at its best when it is at its most hospitable. We are a country that prides itself on being a safe-haven for refugees. Immigrants and immigration have always been an incredible source of vitality.
“Unlike many other countries, America has a special knack for integrating and incorporating immigrants. It’s a source of pride. We should be proudly proclaiming our immigration narrative from our rooftops, not shrinking from it and closing our borders. JCPA’s opposition to the Executive Order has as much to do with the challenge it poses to America’s sense of self as a nation of immigrants than any specific policy.”
Today, U.S. Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) issued the following statement on President Trump’s new executive order that halts the refugee program and bans legal travel and immigration from 6 Muslim-majority nations:
“The White House has said that this travel ban would be fundamentally the same as the last one that was struck down by the courts, and that is exactly what they delivered. This ban still undermines our fight against terrorism and our security interests abroad. And it still betrays our values as Americans.
“President Trump has offered no evidence for imminent threats or alleged shortcomings in our rigorous screening processes that justify this sweeping, discriminatory policy. The reckless rationale behind both of these orders makes it clear that his goal is to keep an extreme campaign promise to ban Muslims, not to make Americans safer.
“President Trump needs to stop playing politics with national security.”
Jewish Family Service of San Diego has released the following statement from CEO Michael Hopkins:
“Jewish Family Service of San Diego continues to believe that stopping refugee resettlement, for any period of time, undermines our nation’s founding principles and turns away those seeking safety, freedom, hope and opportunity.
There is nothing ‘temporary’ about this new executive order on refugees. The language of the ban may have changed slightly, but the result for refugees is still the same. Tens of thousands of refugees will remain in danger after they had already been approved to come to the United States.”
– Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) released the following statement on the latest refugee and Muslim ban issued by President Trump.
“This fundamentally unjust refugee and Muslim ban targets people who have already gone through an intense vetting process to pursue the American dream and contribute to our country. This unconstitutional ban is unnecessary and makes us less safe. This will only hurt more families and will hurt our economy.
“With these bans, President Trump continues to hand a prime recruiting tool to terrorists.”
[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement regarding the executive order signed by the President today restricting travel from six Muslim-majority countries:
“Just like his last Muslim ban, this executive order plays into our enemy’s hands by giving them a propaganda tool to spread a false narrative about the United States hating Muslims. This ban will not make our country safer and betrays the American values those of us who served in uniform fought to defend. Discrimination is discrimination and no amount of sugarcoating by the President will change that.
“President Trump’s last Muslim ban created chaos for my constituents and Americans across the nation. Multiple federal courts rightfully halted implementation over concerns surrounding its legality and constitutionality. I am confident this new order will not stand either, if not in the courts then at the ballot box.”
Following President Donald Trump’s revised executive order restricting Muslim immigration, Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, released the following statement:
“This revised executive order is a distinction without a difference. By working to prevent immigration to a nation of immigrants, President Trump continues to show that he fundamentally does not understand what it means to be an American. This is not about national security — he is targeting Muslims, immigrants and refugees purely out of spite and fear, but national security experts agree that his action today will not keep us safer.
As Jews and as Americans, we will fight for our Muslim brothers and sisters and will stand with those marginalized by this executive order and, in time, we will overturn it.
America is truly great when we live up to our founding promise. Instead, the President continues to scapegoat immigrants, which is contributing to a hostile and dangerous environment for innocent people across the country. We demand political leaders across the spectrum speak out against President Trump’s actions and take steps to protect those most threatened by the cruelty of his administration.”
In response to President Trump’s new executive order further halting the refugee resettlement program and maintaining efforts to ban or limit entry to the United States for individuals from several majority-Muslim countries, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement on behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the wider Reform Movement:
“The Trump administration has doubled down on its discriminatory and unjust refugee and immigration ban, defying the American traditions of welcome and religious liberty. This new executive order continues to target people from Muslim-majority countries for restricted entry, and also penalizes the victims of terrorism, war and violence by furthering halting the refugee resettlement program. The notion that refugees who have already waited so long for safety and security could possibly wait any longer for resettlement is deeply misguided and ignores the dire circumstances faced by so many. This 120-day freeze of the U.S. refugee resettlement program will likely have tragic consequences for those who have already endured a lengthy vetting process.
“The Jewish community – like all Americans whose ancestors arrived as refugees and immigrants – was given opportunities to access education, join the workforce, and contribute to their communities and their country. Let us not now allow fear to overwhelm our nation’s capacity for compassion. We call on President Trump to rescind this executive order, and in doing so to embrace the longstanding American tradition of welcoming those seeking a safe haven and a new life for themselves and their families. Additionally, every Member of Congress must denounce this deeply unjust executive order and actively support efforts to expand refugee resettlement. The United States cannot renege on its legacy as a nation of immigrants and refugees.”