GOP senator: Trump can implement extreme vetting without travel ban

Greg Nash

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Sunday that President Trump can implement extreme vetting measures without an executive order banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries.

“My view is the president does have certainly the right to put in place extreme vetting,” Blunt told host Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”

“I think you can do that without a travel ban,” he added.  

{mosads}Blunt said the United States has worked hard to prevent terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, referencing recent, deadly incidents in London.

“We constantly have to be vigilant,” Blunt told Wallace. “And I think [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary [John] Kelly is right when he says only because we have been fortunate and worked hard to prevent this have we not had these kind of attacks here,” he added.

Blunt also said he is not concerned about the visa waiver program, reasoning that “you can spend more time on the people you have reason to believe may have been in Libya, may have been in Syria, may have become radicalized.”  

Blunt also described how families migrated to Europe for jobs, but never fully integrated in the society, leaving the second generation feeling isolated and vulnerable to being radicalized.  

Tags Roy Blunt

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.