REUTERS-President Donald Trump on Friday put a four-month hold on allowing
refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and
six other Muslim-
majority countries, saying the moves would help protect
Americans from terrorist attacks.
In the most sweeping use of his presidential powers since taking office a
week ago, Trump paused the entry of travelers from Syria and the six other
nations for at least 90 days, saying his administration needed time to develop
more stringent screening processes for refugees, immigrants and visitors.
"I'm establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic
terrorists out of the United States of America. Don't want them here,"
Trump said earlier on Friday at the Pentagon.
"We only want to admit those into our country who will support our
country and love deeply our people," he said.
The order seeks to prioritize refugees fleeing religious persecution, a
move Trump separately said was aimed at helping Christians in Syria. That led
some legal experts to question whether the order was constitutional.
One group said it would announce a court challenge on Monday. The Council
on American-Islamic Relations said the order targets Muslims because of their
faith, contravening the U.S. Constitutional right to freedom of religion.
"President Trump has cloaked what is a discriminatory ban against
nationals of Muslim countries under the banner of national security," said
Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
The bans, though temporary, took effect immediately, causing havoc and
confusion for would-be travelers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya,
Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Trump has long pledged to take this kind of action, making it a prominent
feature of his campaign for the Nov. 8 election, but people who work with
Muslim immigrants and refugees were scrambling on Friday night to determine the
scope of the order.
Even legal permanent residents - people with "green cards"
allowing them to live and work in the United States - were being advised to
consult immigration lawyers before traveling outside the country, or trying to
return, said Muslim Advocates, a civil rights group in Washington.
On Friday evening, Abed Ayoub of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee said he had fielded about 100 queries from people anxious about the
order, which he said he believed could affect traveling green card holders,
students, people coming to the United States for medical care and others.
"It's chaos," Ayoub said.
SYRIAN REFUGEES
During his campaign, Trump tapped into American fears about Islamic State
militants and the flood of migrants into Europe from Syria's civil war, saying
refugees could be a "Trojan horse" that allowed attackers to enter
the United States.
In December 2015, he called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United
States, drawing fire for suggesting a religious test for immigrants that
critics said would violate the U.S. Constitution.
His idea later evolved into a proposal for "extreme vetting."
Trump's order also suspends the Syrian refugee program until further
notice, and will eventually give priority to minority religious groups fleeing
persecution.
Trump said in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network that
the exception would help Syrian Christians fleeing the civil war there.
Legal experts were divided on whether this order would be constitutional.
"If they are thinking about an exception for Christians, in almost
any other legal context discriminating in favor of one religion and against another
religion could violate the constitution," said Stephen Legomsky, a former
chief counsel at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Obama
administration.
But Peter Spiro, a professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law,
said Trump's action would likely be constitutional because the president and
Congress are allowed considerable deference when it comes to asylum decisions.
"It's a completely plausible prioritization, to the extent this
group is actually being persecuted," Spiro said.
Trump's order had been expected to include a directive about setting up
"safe zones" for Syrian refugees inside the country, but no such
language was included on Friday.
The order may also affect special refugee programs for Iraqis who worked
for the U.S. government as translators after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
It is already affecting refugees and their families, said Jen Smyers of
the Church World Service, a Protestant faith-based group that works with
migrants.
Smyers said she spoke to an Iraqi mother whose twin daughters remain in
Iraq due to processing delays. "Those two 18-year-old daughters won't be
able to join their mother in the U.S.," she said.
POLITICAL FIRE
Democrats on Friday were quick to condemn Trump's order as un-American,
saying it would tarnish the reputation of the United States as a land that
welcomes immigrants.
"Today's executive order from President Trump is more about extreme
xenophobia than extreme vetting," said Democratic Senator Edward Markey in
a statement.
Some Republicans praised the move. Representative Bob Goodlatte, chairman
of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, said Islamic State has
threatened to use the U.S. immigration system, making it important to do more
screening.
"I am pleased that President Trump is using the tools granted to him
by Congress and the power granted by the Constitution to help keep America safe
and ensure we know who is entering the United States," Goodlatte said in a
statement.
Republican Speaker Paul Ryan, who had panned Trump's original campaign
pledge to ban Muslims from entering the United States, expressed some support
on Friday.
"We are a compassionate nation, and I support the refugee
resettlement program, but it's time to reevaluate and strengthen the visa
vetting process," Ryan said.
"President Trump is right to make sure we are doing everything
possible to know exactly who is entering our country," Ryan said.
REUTERS
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