{"id":64665,"date":"2017-01-28T13:08:20","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T17:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=64665"},"modified":"2017-01-28T13:10:06","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T17:10:06","slug":"trump-bars-refugees-and-citizens-of-7-muslim-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=64665","title":{"rendered":"Trump Bars Refugees and Citizens of 7 Muslim Countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR<\/span> and <\/span>HELENE COOPER<\/span><\/span>
\nThe New York Times<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump on Friday closed the nation\u2019s borders to refugees from around the world, ordering that families fleeing the slaughter in Syria be indefinitely blocked from entering the United States, and temporarily suspending immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries.<\/p>\n

In an executive order that he said was part of an extreme vetting plan to keep out \u201cradical Islamic terrorists,\u201d Mr. Trump also established a religious test for refugees from Muslim nations: He ordered that Christians and others from minority religions be granted priority over Muslims.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want them here,\u201d Mr. Trump said of Islamist terrorists during a signing ceremony at the Pentagon. \u201cWe want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas. We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country, and love deeply our people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump explained to an interviewer for the Christian Broadcasting Network<\/a> that Christians in Syria were \u201chorribly treated\u201d and alleged that under previous administrations, \u201cif you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI thought it was very, very unfair. So we are going to help them,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n

In fact, the United States accepts tens of thousands of Christian refugees. According to the Pew Research Center, almost as many Christian refugees (37,521) were admitted as Muslim refugees (38,901) in the 2016 fiscal year.<\/p>\n

The executive order suspends the entry of refugees into the United States for 120 days and directs officials to determine additional screening \u201dto ensure that those approved for refugee admission do not pose a threat to the security and welfare of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

The order also stops the admission of refugees from Syria indefinitely, and bars entry into the United States for 90 days from seven predominantly Muslim countries linked to concerns about terrorism. Those countries are Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Mr. Trump signed a memorandum on Friday directing what he called \u201ca great rebuilding of the armed services,\u201d saying it would call for budget negotiations to acquire new planes, new ships and new resources for the nation\u2019s military.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur military strength will be questioned by no one, but neither will our dedication to peace,\u201d Mr. Trump said.<\/p>\n

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GRAPHIC<\/h3>\n

How Trump\u2019s Executive Order Will Affect the U.S. Refugee Program<\/h2>\n

The order cuts the number of refugees to the U.S. in half and bars those from Syria.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>

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<\/div>\n
<\/i> OPEN GRAPHIC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Announcing his \u201cextreme vetting\u201d plan, the president invoked the specter of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Most of the 19 hijackers on the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa., were from Saudi Arabia. The rest were from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon. None of those countries are on Mr. Trump\u2019s visa ban list.<\/p>\n

Human rights activists roundly condemned Mr. Trump\u2019s actions, describing them as officially sanctioned religious persecution dressed up to look like an effort to make the United States safer.<\/p>\n

The International Rescue Committee called it \u201charmful and hasty.\u201d The American Civil Liberties Union described it as a \u201ceuphemism for discriminating against Muslims.\u201d Raymond Offensheiser, the president of Oxfam America, said the order would harm families around the world who are threatened by authoritarian governments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe refugees impacted by today\u2019s decision are among the world\u2019s most vulnerable people \u2014 women, children, and men \u2014 who are simply trying to find a safe place to live after fleeing unfathomable violence and loss,\u201d Mr. Offensheiser said.<\/p>\n

The president signed the executive order shortly after issuing a statement noting that Friday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an irony that many of his critics highlighted on Twitter. The statement did not mention Jews, although it cited<\/a> the \u201cdepravity and horror inflicted on innocent people by Nazi terror.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s actions came during a swearing-in ceremony for Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, a former Marine general. Standing in the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon, Mr. Trump hailed the members of America\u2019s military as \u201cthe backbone of this country\u201d and described Mr. Mattis as a \u201cman of action.\u201d The president mistakenly referred to Mr. Mattis as a \u201csoldier,\u201d a term abhorred by Marines.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has been deferential to Mr. Mattis, who has quickly established himself as a top aide whose advice the president is willing to take. On Friday, Mr. Trump said he would let Mr. Mattis \u201coverride\u201d him by banning torture during terror interrogations even though Mr. Trump believes the tactics do work in getting information from suspects.<\/p>\n

In a remarkable show of deference to his own subordinate, Mr. Trump said during an earlier news conference Friday morning with Theresa May, the British prime minister, that he would let Mr. Mattis decide about whether to use torture in interrogations. Mr. Mattis has said he does not believe torture is effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t necessarily agree, but I will tell you that he will override because I\u2019m giving him that power,\u201d Mr. Trump said. \u201cI\u2019m going to rely on him. I happen to feel that it does work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump appeared to be struggling with the issue even as he spoke, returning several times to his own belief in the effectiveness of torture even as he stated that he would let Mr. Mattis decide.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m going with our leaders,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are going to win, with or without.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he added, \u201cBut I do disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Mattis spent his first week as defense secretary trying to reassure not only American allies, but also military rank and file, that the United States will not abandon a national security structure that has stood in place since the end of World War II<\/a>. He has told officials in the Pentagon building that at an uncertain time, he intends, as defense secretary, to provide an even-keeled, measured approach to national security issues.<\/p>\n

Before the signing ceremony, Mr. Trump met with Mr. Mattis and his military chiefs for about an hour. The meeting \u2014 which took place in a Pentagon secure room known as \u201cthe tank\u201d \u2014 included introductions for Mr. Trump to his military chiefs of staff. The meeting was attended by Michael Flynn, the national security adviser; Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the chiefs of the four services and the National Guard.<\/p>\n

The men discussed how to accelerate the fight against the Islamic State and North Korea and how to deal with a host of global challenges, said a defense official who was not authorized to talk publicly about the internal talks. The leaders also discussed how to improve military readiness.<\/p>\n

The newly sworn-in secretary of defense also gave Mr. Trump a little of what the president has been asking \u2014 or tweeting \u2014 for. On Thursday, Mr. Mattis ordered a review of the controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter<\/a> program, which has been criticized by Mr. Trump for its cost overruns.<\/p>\n

Mr. Mattis also ordered that plans for a new Air Force One<\/a> \u2014 another project that has come under fire from Mr. Trump \u2014 should be reviewed, \u201cwith the specific objective of identifying means to substantially reduce the program\u2019s costs while delivering needed capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The F-35 review, Mr. Mattis said in a memo, will also look at how to reduce costs while still meeting requirements set out for the fighter jet program.<\/p>\n

During his confirmation hearings this month, Mr. Mattis defended Twitter messages from Mr. Trump criticizing the F-35 program. Mr. Mattis said at the time that Mr. Trump had \u201cin no way shown a lack of support for the program,\u201d adding, \u201cHe just wants more bang for the buck.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cost of building the F-35 next-generation fighter jet has been an issue at the Pentagon for several years. At an estimated $400 billion over 15 years for 2,443 planes, the fighter jet is the military\u2019s largest weapons project.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

___
\nhttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/01\/27\/us\/politics\/trump-syrian-refugees.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}