President Donald Trump continued Monday to defend his executive order from Friday barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.
After days of confusion and protests at airports over the order — which bars citizens Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from traveling to the US — Trump argued on Twitter that it resulted in few detentions at airports, saying passenger delays were due to an unrelated Delta Air Lines systems malfunction.
Some observers said Trump's orders de-emphasized the number of travelers affected by the hasty implementation of the travel ban, stranding many in transit and blocking some from prescheduled flights.
Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage,.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 The president also knocked Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, of New York, who teared up during a press conference Sunday while dubbing the executive order "mean-spirited" and "un-American."
protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer. Secretary Kelly said that all is going well with very few problems. MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 There is nothing nice about searching for terrorists before they can enter our country. This was a big part of my campaign. Study the world!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017 Trump has faced an enormous bipartisan backlash over the implementation of the order, which was reportedly hastily executed by top staff members including chief White House strategist Steve Bannon.
While many Democrats and civil-liberties advocates decried the order as unconstitutional, many Senate Republicans also criticized the rollout of the order, which left top government officials out of the loop and confused customs and border agents, causing hourslong detentions and uncertainty over the weekend.
"It is clear from the confusion at our airports across the nation that President Trump's executive order was not properly vetted," Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham wrote in a joint statement released Sunday. "We are particularly concerned by reports that this order went into effect with little to no consultation with the Departments of State, Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security."
For their part, Trump and his top White House brass have publicly dismissed critics.
Appearing on "Meet The Press" on Sunday, chief of staff Reince Priebus suggested that the order may expand at some point to include other countries that the administration fears harbor potential terrorists.
"Perhaps some of these people should be detained further," Priebus told NBC. "And if they're folks that shouldn't be in this country, they're going to be detained. So apologies for nothing here."
No comments:
Post a Comment