‘New travel ban doesn’t keep US safe’

Team Udayavani, Mar 7, 2017, 4:32 PM IST

Washington (USA): The revised executive order, temporarily halting entry to the United States for people from six Muslim-majority nations while dropping Iraq from the list, “does not make US safe”, top Indian American lawmakers said.

“Make no mistake: this ban does not keep us safe. It puts American lives at risk while isolating the Muslim community at a time when we need to address the threat of homegrown extremism. No matter the changes, this executive action remains immoral and fundamentally un-American,” California Senator Kamala Harris said.

Harris, who is the first Indian American US Senator was joined by other four Indian Americans in the House of Representatives – Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal, the first Indian American woman to be elected to the House.

“While I welcome the decision to omit Iraq from the list of banned countries, the President still has an obligation to provide evidence of a national security threat posed by immigrants and refugees from the remaining six countries,” Harris said.

“Omitting one country from the list does not eliminate the need to provide the American people with meaningful evidence supporting this ban. The White House had more than a month to develop their case, and has failed to provide actual justification based on facts,” she added.

Jayapal said, in his new executive order, Trump has been forced to recognise that his original travel ban was both “unconstitutional” and “ineptly” executed.

“The new order recognises that we must honour the visas of those who already have been given clearance to come to the United States, as well as excludes legal permanent residents and dual citizens affected by the ban,” she said.

“It also excludes Iraq from the list of the banned countries, another clear sign that such a ban would hurt our coalition efforts for peace in the Middle East. It should not have taken the courts and nationwide protests to stop such an order from taking effect in the first place,” she said.

The president was “irresponsible” in “throwing” the country into chaos and putting fear in the hearts of millions of families, she added.