President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, defended the travel ban from seven countries deemed sources of terrorism.
“The president, as we all know has issued three executive orders related to our homeland security mission. These orders will secure our borders, enhance the enforcement of our immigration laws and keep our citizens safe by keeping foreign terrorists out of our country. I’d like to clarify that the most recent executive order what it does and does not mean. It is not a travel ban. This is a temporary pause that allows us to better review the existing refugee and visa vetting system. Over the next 30 days we will analyze and assess the strengths and the weaknesses of our current immigration system, which is the most generous in the world. We will then provide our foreign partners with 60 days to cooperate with our national security requirements. This way we ensure the system is doing what it is designed to do which is protect the American people.”
Kelly emphasized that the order was not a ban on Muslims entering the United States.
“Furthermore this is not, I repeat, not a ban on Muslims. The homeland security mission is to safeguard the American people, our homeland, our values and religious liberty is one of our most fundamental and treasured values. It is important to understand that there are terrorists and other bad actors who are seeking to infiltrate our homeland every single day. The seven countries named in the executive order are those designated by Congress in the Obama administration as requiring additional security when making decisions about who comes into our homeland.”
(AP)
