On Friday, January 28, President, Donald Trump signed an executive order that suspended refugee entry into the United States indefinitely.
According to the New York Times the ban, which is planned to last 120 days, blocked Syrian refugees indefinitely. The order stated, “…I hereby proclaim that the entry of nationals of Syria as refugees is detrimental to the interests of the United States and thus suspend any such entry until such time as I have determined that sufficient changes have been made to the USRAP [United States Refugee Admissions Program] to ensure that admission of Syrian refugees is consistent with the national interest.”
The order also stated when the USRAP resumed admitting refugees into the U.S., “…the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, is further directed to make changes, to the extent permitted by law, to prioritize refugee claims made by individuals on the basis of religious-based persecution, provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual’s country of nationality.” According to the New York Times, this will give Christian refugees priority entrance into the United States over Muslim refugees.
The New York Times reported the order also cut the U.S. cap on refugee in half. The order stated, “…he entry of more than 50,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017 would be detrimental to the interests of the United States…”
Additionally, it also blocked the entry of citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen into the U.S. for 90 days, countries known for being predominantly Muslim. The order then went on bar green card holders said countries from re-entering the U.S. The order, however, did make exceptions for “…those foreign nationals traveling on diplomatic visas, North Atlantic Treaty Organization visas, C-2 visas for travel to the United Nations, and G-1, G-2, G-3, and G-4 visas.” According to the New York Times, “These exemptions are mostly for diplomats, people traveling to the United Nations in New York, and others involved in international organizations.”
However, despite the order Reuters reported the U.S. government granted 872 this week waivers to let refugees into the country. According to an anonymous homeland security official quoted in a Reuters article, the waivers were granted for refugees who were in transit and had already been cleared for resettlement in the U.S. before the ban went into effect.
The order has been a source of controversy, spurring protests and scrutiny from world leaders. Leaders from nations such as Britain, France, Germany, and Turkey all spoke out against the order. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel said, “The necessary and decisive fight against terrorism in no way justifies a general suspicion against people of certain beliefs, in this case people of the Muslim faith or from a certain origin. These actions, according to my beliefs, are against the core idea of international aid for refugees and international cooperation.”
Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, didn’t explicitly mention Trump’s order, but tweeted a statement of support “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war…” and vowed that they’d be welcomed in Canada “…regardless of your faith.”
However, Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, became one of the few to show support for the order and stated, “it is vital that every nation is able to control who comes across its borders.” Dutch far-right Party for Freedom founder and leader, Geert Wilders also showed support for the executive order and tweeted, “No more immigration from any Islamic country is exactly what we need. Also in The Netherlands For Islam and freedom are incompatible.”