Trump’s Travel Ban Slammed by Many
US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on refugees and immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries has sparked massive protests and a political backlash.
On its second day, the protests are spreading like wildfire around the country and spreading globally.
The Guardian says thousands of people launched rallies across the country to protest Donald Trump’s travel executive order. Huge crowds of more than 1,000, including Chelsea Clinton, protested in Battery Park in New York City. Thousands assembled out at Boston’s Copley Square as well. In Washington DC, protesters chanted “shame” outside the White House. Hundreds are still protesting at LAX Airport in Los Angeles.
Protests assembled in dozens of smaller cities and towns, including Rochester, NY, at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Dulles Airport in Virginia, Albuquerque, NM and Pittsburgh, PA.
More protests are set to take place in Baltimore, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Boston, Boise, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco and other cities across the country.
President Trump signed the executive order targeting Muslim-majority countries at the Pentagon on Friday. The move stopped US refugee entry into the US for 120 days, and barred all citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the US for three months.
The other nations under the same restrictions are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Political Backlash
Donald Trump’s recent travel ban also drew criticism from high-profile Republicans, including Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, calling for it to be immediately changed. Both said on Sunday that the president’s order may do more to help recruit “terrorists” than improve US security.
“This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security,” said McCain, of Arizona, and Graham, of South Carolina.
Aljazeera says attorney generals from 16 US states including California, New York and Pennsylvania issued a joint statement on Sunday slamming Trump’s executive order.
The statement said, “We are committed to working to ensure that as few people as possible suffer from the chaotic situation that it has created.”
Trump Says “It Is Not A Muslim Ban”
President Trump made a statement on Sunday defending his travel ban as “not a Muslim ban.”
Trump insisted that the move would protect the United States from terrorists.
In an afternoon statement, Trump wrote the country would continue showing “compassion to those fleeing oppression.”
He wrote, “To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion – this is about terror and keeping our country safe.”
No Protests When Obama Banned Iraqis in 2011
In 2011, President Obama quietly banned Iraqis for 6 months, after two Iraqi refugees already admitted to the USA in Kentucky were found to be al Qaeda terrorists. It was alleged these two terrorists had killed U.S. soldiers while in Iraq. Their fingerprints were clearly found on fragments of a bomb.
It was reported that the State Department had approved thousands of refugees to enter the USA in 2011, using flawed background checks. Among the refugees were the two al-Qaeda terrorists and possibly dozens of others. Those two were caught in an FBI sting preparing to send arms and missiles back to Iraq. They also planned to kill an American Captain still in Iraq.
There were no protests against Obama for that ban and no protests against the State Department or the Immigration Service.
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