8 Things You Need To Know About
Trump's Executive Order On Refugees, Immigration
Late on Friday afternoon, President
Trump signed an executive order significantly cracking down on entry into the
United States by citizens from Muslim countries Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya,
Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. It quickly fell under fire from the media, which
suggested that Trump was doing something unprecedented, racist, Islamophobic,
and utterly horrifying. Then, on Saturday, a New York federal judge put a stay
on the order.
So, what do you need to know about the
order?
1. Trump Invokes 9/11. The executive order states that the
visa-issuance process needs review because of failures leading up to 9/11, and
further attacks afterward. It is true that there have been a bevy of
high-profile terror attacks on American soil from refugees and others approved
by the American visa system: the Boston Marathon bombing; the Ohio State terror
attack; the St. Cloud, Minnesota machete attack; the New York/New Jersey
bombing attacks in September 2016. Here’s a fuller listing. The executive order states, “The United
States cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution,
or those who would place violent ideologies over American law.”
2. The Order Suspends Visas From
“Nationals of Countries of Particular Origin.” The Secretary of Homeland Security, as well
as the Secretary of State and Director of National Intelligence, are tasked
under the order with determining the standard necessary for visa entry within
30 days. All entry into the United States is suspended, “as immigrants and
nonimmigrants, of such persons for 90 days from the date of this order.” This
isn’t unprecedented – Jimmy Carter issued a cancelation of visas for Iranian citizens in 1980.
3. More Countries May Be Coming. Under the executive order, the Secretary of
State is told to request information from foreign governments in accordance
with the report of the DHS and DNI. The DHS and Secretary of State are then
told to come up with a list of additional countries that aren’t fulfilling
their informational obligations.
4. The Secretaries of State and
Homeland Security Can Waive The Executive Order For Individuals. Under Section 3(g), they can “on a
case-by-case basis, and when in the national interest, issue visas or other
immigration benefits to nationals of countries for which visas and benefits are
otherwise blocked.”
5. Refugees Are Blocked For 120 Days.
Syrian Refugees Are Banned Indefinitely.
Under the order, the Secretary of State is told to suspend the US Refugee
Admissions program for 120 days to “review the USRAP application and
adjudication process.” Syrian refugees are labeled “detrimental
to the interests of the United States” until the process is revamped.
6. Priority Is Given To Victims of
Religious-Based Persecution. The
media has labeled the order Islamophobic based on this provision, but here’s
what it actually says:
Upon the resumption of USRAP
admissions, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of
Homeland Security, is further directed to make changes, to the extent permitted
by law, to prioritize refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of
religious-based persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a
minority religion in the individual’s country of nationality. Where necessary
and appropriate, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security shall recommend
legislation to the President that would assist with such prioritization.
As David French points out at National Review, the current definition of refugee under law
states, “any person who is outside any country of such person’s
nationality . . . and who is unable or unwilling to return
to . . . that country because of persecution or a
well-founded fear of persecution on account
of . . . religion [among other things].” This executive
order isn’t a major change to that standard, and it is designed to give
priority to Syrian Christian refugees who have largely been left high and dry
by the Obama administration.
7. The Order Limits The Number Of
Refugees in 2017 to 50,000. The media’s
been going nuts over this one, but this is well in line with prior refugee
numbers before the last couple of years, as French points out.
8.
It Was Apparently Interpreted by Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and Top Advisor
Steven Miller To Cover Those With Green Cards.
When questions began to stream in about whether the order applied to legal
residents from the seven countries at issue, the Department of Homeland
Security immediately said yes. Then, apparently, Bannon and Miller overruled them,
leading to confusion. Here’s the CNN
reporthttp://arbeeresponds2.blogspot.com/2017/02/trump-immigration-law-transcript.html
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