Keller @ Large: Immigration Law Expert Talks Trump Travel Ban
BOSTON (CBS) -- When it comes ot the rollout of President Donald Trump's executive order banning travel from seven different majority-Muslim countries, Immigration law expert Marisa DeFranco told WBZ political analyst Jon Keller that she has issues with both the Trump administration and Democratic leaders.
When it comes to the travel ban itself, DeFranco says Trump blew it.
"It was completely ineffective and wrong-headed," she said. "What he's doing is he's telegraphing to the terrorists a blueprint of how to subvert our immigration system. So now you've banned seven countries, so what are the terrorists going to do? They're simply going to counterfeit passports from all of the other non-banned countries in the world."
She said any claims the ban would increase security were a "farce." DeFranco said issues like visa fraud and loose restrictions were the real problems.
"It's a lie to the American people," she said of the ban. "It's not telling the American people about any of the holes we have in the immigration system."
But DeFranco criticized Attorney General Maura Healey and Mayor Marty Walsh's reactions, including their showing up at airport protests the weekend the ban went into effect.
"As an attorney, I don't appreciate using the law and immigrants to pervert the meaning of what's going on here," she said. "They assume that all immigrants are good and that all immigration is good, so they're minimizing the problems that we do have."
DeFranco and Keller also discussed the airport protests further, and talked about ways to improve the K1 visa system and fill other gaps in US immigration policy.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.