One of the biggest inaccuracies, falsehoods, and potential lies of the left is calling President Donald Trump’s executive order a “Muslim ban.”
Either out of ignorance or intentional deception, liberal pundits and politicians mislead the American people in characterizing Trump’s safety-oriented old and new order as something they are not: a so-called ban on a religion. Yet the orders are nothing of the sort.
{mosads}Trump’s newly issued executive order temporarily bars immigration from six countries compromised by terrorism — all countries that the Obama administration and Congress designated for strict visa restrictions due to either being a “country of concern” or “state sponsor of terrorism.”
The temporary halt only affects 6 of the world’s 49 Muslim-majority nations. In other words, 43 Muslim-majority nations are unaffected. Since this is a country-specific halt, it affects any foreign national from the specified nations – Christians, Jews, and every other religion included. Nowhere in the text of the revised executive order are delineations made based on faith.
Rather than making generalizations based on religion, the Trump administration gives specific security rationales for zeroing in on these six countries. Consider the strong case the administration makes in the executive order:
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Iran: Iran has been dubbed a state sponsor of terrorism for more than three decades. It “has permitted al-Qa’ida to transport funds and fighters… .”
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Libya: Libya is an active combat zone, where “security and law enforcement functions are provided by armed militias rather than state institutions.” ISIS is pervasive throughout the country.
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Somalia: In addition to al-Qa’ida affiliates finding safe haven here, “Somalia has porous borders, and most countries do not recognize Somali identify documents.”
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Sudan: Sudan has been identified as a state sponsor of terror for the upwards of two decades. Al-Qa’ida and ISIS terror groups “remain active in the country.”
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Syria: Likewise, Syria has been categorized as a state sponsor of terrorism for nearly 40 years. ISIS “continues to attract foreign fighters to Syria and to use its base in Syria to plot or encourage attacks around the globe… .”
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Yemen: Yemen is home to ongoing conflict, which ISIS and al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) “have exploited… to expand their presence in Yemen and to carry out hundreds of attacks.”
Moreover, in three of these six countries the United States has ceased its embassy operations. Based on the foregoing facts, pointedly articulated in the new executive order, does the motive appear to be based on disdain for a religious faith or legitimate security concerns?
The answer is obvious. And it is compounded by Obama-appointed Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s warning that ISIS is, “taking advantage of the torrent of migrants to insert operatives into that flow” and is “pretty skilled at phony passports so they can travel ostensibly as legitimate travelers.” And additionally compounded by FBI Director James Comey saying, “I can’t sit here and offer anybody an absolute assurance that there’s no risk associated” with Obama’s refugee program.
The warnings of Obama’s intelligence community were indeed rooted in fact. As Trump’s order notes, 300 refugees are under counterterrorism investigation by the FBI and “(s)ince 2001, hundreds of persons born abroad have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes in the United States.”
To give you one example, a Somali refugee received 30 years in prison for “attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) in connection with a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb at an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony earlier this evening in Portland, Ore.”
President Trump — based on warnings from Obama’s intelligence community and evidence of terrorism-immigration links both in Europe and in our own homeland — has taken the commonsense step of pausing immigration from terrorism compromised countries.
The Trump administration recognizes that most refugees and immigrants are good people, but practical and temporary measures must be taken to keep this nation safe from the few bad individuals who seek to harm us.
Rather than acknowledge this, the left has descended into hysterics and opted to flatly deceive the nation about Trump’s order by falsely calling it a “Muslim ban.” Their antics are not only an insult to the intelligence of the American of the people but a sad effort to play politics with America’s national security.
Kayleigh McEnany is a CNN political commentator who recently received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. She graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and also studied politics at Oxford University.
The views of contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.