Trump Refugee Moratorium Protects America
Common sense versus leftist hysteria
While former President Barack Obama ignored the danger of ISIS infiltrating the flow of Syrian refugees arriving in the United States, candidate for President Donald J. Trump took notice. With ever increasing terror attacks across Europe along with the savage 911 style attacks in Paris and Nice France, the possibility of importing radical jihadists was just a bridge too far. FBI Director James Comey made it clear in testimony before Congress in late 2015, "We can only query against that which we have collected, and so if someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interests reflected in our database, we can query our database til the cows come home, but … there’ll be nothing show up, because we have no record on that person,”. Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper offered this assessment, "As they descent on Europe, one of the obvious issues that we worry about, and in turn we bring refugees into this country, is exactly what's your background? We don't obviously put it past the likes of ISIL to infiltrate operatives among the refugees." Based on these concerns, candidate Donald Trump proposed a plan to implement "extreme vetting" of foreign visitors and refugees from those countries that are deemed terror hotbeds.
On Friday, now President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring an indefinite pause on Syrian refugees and a temporary stay on migration from seven nations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The stay is for 120 days pending a report with recommendations within 90 days to improve vetting of foreign nationals from countries linked to increased terrorism. It does not include more than 44 other majority Muslim countries. As it includes nationals from these seven states, it also includes Christians. There are also exceptions to the stay for certain visa categories and other exemptions granted by the Department of Homeland Security. It should be noted that all seven of these countries were previously identified by the Obama Administration as countries of concern during their security review which resulted in the imposition of travel restrictions. The prior administration also issued a stay on migration from Iraq in 2011 due to the arrest of Iraqi refugees for participating in terrorism linked to the murder of U.S. Soldiers in Iraq as well as attempting to provide material support for terrorists while residing in the U.S.
As the executive order was not announced in advance, 109 foreign nationals were detained at border crossings over the weekend out of 325,000 foreign visitors. While some of the cases involved legal action in the federal courts, the majority of those have since been released after additional screening. In response to the overblown outcry from partisan political agitators and hard left politicians, the Trump Administration stated that they didn't want to announce the policy in advance as not to warn those who would try to enter the country before the moratorium went into effect. It was no different than the last minute announcement by the Obama Administration earlier this month that the U.S. was immediately ending the "wet foot, dry foot" immigration policy for Cubans. The policy change affected thousands of Cubans who were enroute to the U.S. or were arriving here.
The most disturbing aspect surrounding this executive order is not the actual order which is quite rational considering the real threat to America's national security but rather the intellectual dishonesty and
the hysteria of the radical left. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) cried crocodile tears in an academy award winning performance decrying the moratorium as a "Muslim ban" and calling the moratorium “mean-spirited and un-American”. Yet in late 2015, Senator Schumer said that a pause of the Syrian refugee program may be necessary. He even went so far as to call the executive action an "evil order". Yet he said little when the Obama administration resisted labeling the systematic murder and torture of Christians and other religious minorities at the hands of ISIS as genocide. Even though the Obama Administration finally called it genocide in March of 2016, the administration refused to accept any significant number of Christians as refugees. Barack Obama's actions are without question the very definition of evil.Did the Senator ever shed a tear for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings? While the Tsnarneav brothers did not enter the U.S. as refugees, they were given asylum which is the basis for many of the Syrian refugees. Did he ever acknowledge that the number one responsibility of the federal government is to protect America's citizens? Of course not. Instead, the Senator, his congressional allies and their related hodge poge of radical anarchist groups are engaging in ritualistic protests all aimed at President Trump. Its not about national security, its all about displaced irrational anger. Chuck Schumer called the policy one of "confusion and chaos", however he needs to look in the mirror. He and his Senate colleges have fought to delay the President's cabinet nominees for partisan politics..
Even former President Obama got in on the act. Waiting only 10 days to criticize the new administration, he said that he "fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.” and noted that he supports protestors, “President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country,” Repeating a lie and calling it truth has been a hallmark of the Obama Presidency. What makes it worse is actually believing your own lies. In July, the President made the following claim, "the world has never been less violent, healthier, better educated, more tolerant, with more opportunity for more people, and more connected than it is today."
Ironically, the very reason that the refugee crisis even exists is due to the foreign policy failures of Barack Obama. He failed to enforce his "red line" against Syrian President Assad's use of chemical weapons and failed to lead in the Syrian civil war. His failure emboldened the Assad regime and allowed Russia a foothold into the middle east complete with a warm water port. He failed to negotiate a Status of Forces agreement with Iraq which led to the immediate withdrawal of all American forces and created a vacuum for the creation of ISIS. Not even understanding the gravity of the problem, he initially labeled ISIS a "junior varsity team". He went along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's push to overthrow Khadafy in Libya without addressing the aftermath. He appeased Iran with the nuclear deal and paid a bribe for American hostages. He allowed Yemen and Somalia to devolve into failed nation states and did nothing to resolve the ongoing civil war in Sudan in which Christians are being targeted.
The most egregious claims are those that call the pause unconstitutional and that the temporary policy will cause radical jihadists to hate us. The constitution applies to American citizens, those who lawfully reside in America and even those residents who may be unlawfully present inside the United States. It does not apply to all of the world's inhabitants or to those who want to immigrate to the U.S. Any claim to the contrary is buffoonery. As to making radical jihadists even more angry, that is no different then blaming a crime victim as being responsible for the actions of the criminal. The temporary policy is rational and reasonable given the clear and present danger America faces from radical Islam and the questions surrounding our current refugee vetting policy. Those who want to come to America should share our values. Those on the left should also.