The Left’s and the Democratic Party’s carefully manufactured hysteria over President Donald Trump’s Executive Order titled ROTECTING THE NATION FROM FOREIGN TERRORIST ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES is at best irritating, but more likely it’s both an embarrassment and a naked continuation of their efforts to delegitimize an election they lost so…unexpectedly.
Here’s The New York Times:
[R]eflect on the cruelty of President Trump’s decision on Friday to indefinitely suspend the resettlement of Syrian refugees and temporarily ban people from seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the United States.
Umm, no, and the NYT knows this full well. What the EO does is continue the Obama administration’s functional suspension of Syrian refugee resettlement in the US. These are the numbers Obama permitted from Syria over the last years of his administration before in his final lame duck year he decided to tear down our doors and let anyone in who took a notion to come:
- Fiscal Year 2011: 29
- Fiscal Year 2012: 31
- Fiscal Year 2013: 36
- Fiscal Year 2014: 105
- Fiscal Year 2015: 1,682
That last year was the start of his ramp-up to 13,000 unvetted “refugees” from war-ruined and so terrorist-laden Syria.
And no, the EO doesn’t ban people from seven predominantly Muslim nations. It bans people from seven state sponsors of terrorism and failed nations, so designated by Barack Obama himself.
Here’s House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi:
As the Statue of Liberty holds her torch of welcome high, there are tears in her eyes as she sees how low this Administration has stooped in its callousness toward mothers and children escaping war-torn Syria.
But not a tear shed by Pelosi or her version of our Statue of Liberty for Obama’s long-standing ban. And never mind that we welcome immigrants and refugees with open arms, but not terrorists. And those from terror-sponsoring, failed, or ruined nations we can’t yet sort out the terrorists—hence the 90-day block on those seven and the indefinite (which means not permanent) block—on folks from Syria.
Here’s Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has earned himself a Razzie for those overwrought crocodile tears. He also had this to say:
Tears are running down the cheeks of the Statue of Liberty tonight as a grand tradition of America, welcoming immigrants, that has existed since America was founded, has been stomped upon[.]
Not at all. All that’s being “stomped upon” is the ability of terrorists to come in with that flow of immigrants.
What the EO actually does is institute a 90-day ban on folks coming in from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen—those seven nations Obama had designated as terror-sponsoring and failed nation entities.
What the EO does is institute a 120 day block on refugees generally so that the vetting process can be improved. After all, it currently takes two years to vet a refugee. What clearer demonstration of a system that can’t do what it was intended to do is that? The 120 days looks like a deadline for the immigration authorities, beginning with DHS, to get their vetting act together and take the matter seriously.
What the EO does is authorize State and DHS to make exceptions to each of those blocks and grant entry visas “or other immigration benefits” on a case-by-case basis to nationals of countries for which visas and benefits are otherwise blocked.
Just to extend an already too long post, here are some key excerpts from the EO.
Numerous foreign-born individuals have been convicted or implicated in terrorism-related crimes since September 11, 2001, including foreign nationals who entered the United States after receiving visitor, student, or employment visas, or who entered through the United States refugee resettlement program. Deteriorating conditions in certain countries due to war, strife, disaster, and civil unrest increase the likelihood that terrorists will use any means possible to enter the United States.
And
The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence, shall immediately conduct a review to determine the information needed from any country to adjudicate any visa, admission, or other benefit under the INA [Immigration and Nationality Act] (adjudications) in order to determine that the individual seeking the benefit is who the individual claims to be and is not a security or public-safety threat.
And
Implementing Uniform Screening Standards for All Immigration Programs. (a) The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall implement a program…[that] will include the development of a uniform screening standard and procedure….
(b) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall submit to the President an initial report on the progress of this directive within 60 days of the date of this order, a second report within 100 days of the date of this order, and a third report within 200 days of the date of this order.
And, regarding refugee admissions procedures
Upon the date that is 120 days after the date of this order, the Secretary of State shall resume USRAP admissions only for nationals of countries for which the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence have jointly determined that such additional procedures are adequate to ensure the security and welfare of the United States.
And
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.
And
Notwithstanding the temporary suspension [of refugee admissions]…the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security may jointly determine to admit individuals to the United States as refugees on a case-by-case basis, in their discretion, but only so long as…it would not pose a risk to the security or welfare of the United States.
The NLMSM and the Democrats are carefully ignoring these minor facts. Both groups should be ashamed of themselves—were they rational enough to be so. Their TDS has gotten the better of them.