Dem senator: Trump refugee order ‘handed ISIS a path to rebirth’

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) says President Trump’s new policy on refugees will revitalize the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Trump signed an executive order Friday that he said would ensure refugees were thoroughly vetted to prevent terrorists from entering the U.S.

“Trump has now handed ISIS a path to rebirth,” Murphy said in a Huffington Post op-ed published after Trump’s move. “They can and will use his announcement today as confirmation that America is at war with Muslims, especially those Muslims living in desperate circumstances.

{mosads}“Their recruitment bulletin boards will light up with new material. Their entreaties to would-be lone wolf attackers in America will have new energy and purpose,” he added.

“All the work we have done to cut down on extremist recruitment at home and abroad now goes out the window. It’s a new day for terrorist recruiters.”

Trump’s order will also reportedly an issuing visas for certain Muslim countries.

Murphy said the decisions would endanger Americans.

“Donald Trump’s long-awaited Muslim ban became a reality today,” he said. “True, the ban doesn’t cover every Muslim globally, just a set of Muslims from countries Trump perceives, rather arbitrarily, to be dangerous.

“Trump’s Muslim ban is a moral abomination. It is fundamentally un-American. And it is dangerous – it will give life back to the terrorist movement and eventually get Americans killed,” he continued.

The White House did not provide immediate details about Trump’s new order Friday, but reports earlier this week suggested it would temporarily suspend issuing visas to several Muslim-majority nations.

Reports earlier this week said Trump’s order would impact Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen. All seven nations appear on a handful of government lists designating sponsors of terrorism and countries of concern.

Trump’s order would especially affect Syria by indefinitely blocking all refugees from the nation which has been torn apart by a civil war since 2011.

The directive would also suspend all refugee admissions to the U.S. for 120 days while the Trump administration determines which countries pose the least risk.