Dem, Republican congressmen explain their objections to Trump's travel ban
President Trump’s travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries has sparked protests across the country and drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle. Congressmen from each party explained on Monday why they oppose the ban.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts), an Iraq War veteran, told CBSN’s Elaine Quijano that the order doesn’t help improve the vetting process for refugees and will endanger the translators and local citizens in these places who risk their lives to help American troops.
“These are people that I had to work with every day on the ground in Iraq: I would put my life in their hands and they put their lives in our hands,” he said in an interview for CBSN’s political show “Red & Blue.” “And the promise we made is that we would take care of them if a terrorist came after them or their families. And now, we’re just abandoning them.”
He said it’s possible that now, rather than continuing to put themselves in harm’s way to help the United States, some of these people will “quit.”
“I can’t imagine the troops trying to have those conversations today when the president back in America says, ‘No, we won’t take care of you, we won’t allow you to come here,’” Moulton said. “A lot of these guys are just going to quit -- and that’s going to put the lives of our troops at much greater risk.”
Moulton also added that the argument from Mr. Trump and White House officials for the speed with which the order was implemented -- that giving more of a heads up would have allowed terrorists to sneak into the country under the deadline -- shows they have “no clue” about how the refugee vetting process works.
“Refugees undergo the strictest security screening of any travelers to the United States,” he said. “In fact’s pretty silly for a terrorist to try to go through the refugee channel when there are much easier ways to get here.”
Trump put the ban in place by signing of an executive order on Friday. It has caused confusion at airports and among government agencies when it comes to implementation. The order was abrupt enough that more than a hundred visa holders from the seven countries in question were already in the air, and they were detained when they landed at U.S. airports.
Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania), a Republican who has spoken out about the ban, said he objected to the “haphazard” way in which it was rolled out and implemented.
“It was rushed through, it was not well-thought out, it was not properly considered,” Dent told “Red & Blue.” “There should have been an inter-agency review … I get the sense that they didn’t have much participation at all in developing this.”
Dent said that rather than implementing an executive order, the government -- Congress included -- needs to take a “more comprehensive approach” to the issue of immigration and terrorism. He suggested looking at the visa waiver program, which includes European countries, and looking at ways to enhance the existing screening and vetting process for incoming refugees and visa-holders.
“It has to be done in a way that doesn’t set down religious litmus test,” he said. “Obviously we can’t have a ban on Muslims, that would fly in the face of our First Amendment and our Constitution so I think we have to be just more thoughtful about how we go about vetting.”