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There has been much consternation, hand-wringing and rending of garments by the American left following President Donald Trump’s recent executive action temporarily banning entry to the U.S. from seven failed or enemy nations, as well as the temporary suspension of the Department of Homeland Security‘s refugee program.
But judging by the hyperbolic reaction and incredible degree of misinformation being spread by the liberal media and their acolytes, such as calling it a “Muslim ban,” it is distressingly obvious that few, if any, of those folks have read the actual text of the orders they are vehemently protesting.
Thus, we present to you these facts about Trump’s executive order regarding the temporary immigration ban from certain countries and the suspension of the refugee program, courtesy of The Daily Wire.
1) 9/11
Trump’s executive order cites the immigration and intelligence failures before Sept. 11, 2001, as well as smaller attacks on the homeland in the following years, as a major reason for reviewing and revamping the rules regarding who is and isn’t permitted entry or allowed to stay in the country.
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Despite claims to the contrary from the media, there have been terrorist attacks committed in America by refugees, most notably the Boston Marathon bombing, but also a number of small attacks by Somali refugees in places like Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Ohio University.
2) Specific countries of origin
Far from being a ban on all Muslims or Muslim countries, Trump’s order suspended visa entries into America for 90 days for individuals from six failed or marginal states (Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) and one of our nation’s chief enemies, Iran.
These nations are all known to grow, harbor and support terrorists.
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3) The list could grow.
Trump’s order instructed his secretary of state and DHS secretary to seek out additional information from other foreign governments. If the information provided by those other nations fails to meet the forthcoming new guidelines issued by DHS and the director of national intelligence, those other countries can be added to the list.
4) The order can be waived for certain individuals.
Section 3(g) of the order makes clear that visas may be issued and other benefits granted to certain individuals from the list of banned nations “on a case-by-case basis” or if their entry is deemed to be “in the national interest,” meaning truly innocent people or those who have assisted the U.S. in a form or fashion could still be granted entry to America.
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5) All refugees are blocked for 4 months, Syrian refugees are blocked indefinitely.
The order suspended for four months the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in order for the application and adjudication processes to be reviewed and revamped. Meanwhile, Syrian refugees as a whole have been labeled as “detrimental” to the interests of the U.S. at the moment, thus their entry into the U.S. has been placed on hold until such time as the designation is changed, likely dependent upon the situation on the ground in the war-torn nation.
6) Religious-based persecution victims are granted priority.
This is about as close as the order gets to being a “Muslim ban” or “Islamaphobic,” but even still the media has overblown it. The order states that those individuals seeking asylum in the U.S. who are members of a minority religious group in their home country, and have faced persecution because of their religion, should be given priority status over others who aren’t a religious minority.
While this, of course, would seem to favor Christians and Jews fleeing persecution in the Middle East and North Africa, it could also be applied to certain Islamic sects and other minority religious groups not necessarily derived from the three major monotheistic religions.
7) Cap placed on refugee program
Trump’s order set a limit of 50,000 individuals admitted as refugees for 2017. Though this is significantly lower than what was planned by the Obama administration or a hypothetical Clinton administration, it is in line with past precedent.
8) Misinterpretation led to confusion
When the order was first rolled out on Friday, it was initially thought that the ban would apply to legal residents and green card holders from the list of banned nations. It was later determined that those individuals could be granted re-entry or permitted to stay in country on a case-by-case basis.
The confusion appeared to stem from a lack of communication between the White House, DHS, the National Security Council and the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Thankfully, they quickly got on the same page, but not before the media and the left exploited the confusion to further stoke outrage.
This executive action from Trump is by and large a good first step towards reforming our nation’s immigration and refugee programs for the better. Could it have been introduced and implemented more smoothly? Absolutely. But a poor roll-out and grotesque overreaction from the liberal media shouldn’t necessarily doom an otherwise legal and necessary action.
Now you have some facts to keep in mind as you battle back the myths being perpetrated by Democrats and their lapdogs in the media.
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