By The Herald Editorial Board
Amid the chaos, the good news is that 36 hours after President Trump signed his executive order restricting refugees from seven Muslim-majority nations, and halting the U.S. refugee program for 120 days, a federal judge in Brooklyn issued emergency orders blocking at least part of the president’s actions. Courts in Massachusetts, Virginia and here in Washington followed with other rulings.
The order from U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in New York barred U.S. border agents from removing anyone who arrived in the U.S. with a valid visa from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, the Associated Press reported. It also covered anyone with an approved refugee application.
Meanwhile, Democrats are considering legislation to overturn President Trump’s executive order, said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. With a few more Republicans, Schumer is confident Congress can overturn the action, The Hill reported. Sens. Ben Sasse, (R-Neb.) John McCain, (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.) have already spoken out against the action, Schumer said.
“These orders go against what America has always been about. The orders make us less humanitarian, less safe, less American,” Schumer said. “We’re demanding the president reverse these executive orders that go against what we are, everything we have always stood for.”
Given the opposition, Congress should be able to muster the necessary Republican votes.
Sen. Susan Collins, (R-ME) issued an opposition statement, saying in part, “A preference should not be given to people who practice a particular religion, nor should a greater burden be imposed on people who practice a particular religion. As I stated last summer, religious tests serve no useful purpose in the immigration process and run contrary to our American values.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who spoke with President Trump on Saturday, expressed her concerns to him about his order, CNBC reported. Merkel reminded Trump the Geneva Conventions require the international community to take in war refugees on humanitarian grounds.
“She is convinced that even the necessary, decisive battle against terrorism does not justify putting people of a specific background or faith under general suspicion,” Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told the German news magazine Der Spiegal. Our other allies, with the exception of Israel, agree.
It’s time for the other branches of government to do their job, quickly, and reverse this course.
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