He calls it ‘overreach’ on the part of the President.
(Baltimore, Md) KM During a news conference in Baltimore on Monday, Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md) continued to speak out against President Donald Trump’s travel ban. “I am concerned that the executive order which tries to impose a religious test for those coming to America puts Americans in jeopardy. I think it makes them less safe rather than more safe,” he said.
President Trump’s executive order temporarily bars visitors to the US from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, the Sudan, Libya and Yemen. It also bars refugees from Syria from coming to the United States.
In issuing the executive order, Trump said it will protect Americans from terrorism. But Senator Cardin disputes that. “I worry about it being used as a recruitment tool by terrorist organizations, or the internet, to self-radicalize people that are already in the country,” he said. “I know it affects our ability to work with Muslim countries that we need in our work against terror.
In addition, it affects those individuals who have helped Americans military personnel in the past. “There are people who are directly impacted who won’t be able to come here. In many cases, it’s life or death. These are victims. These are people who have been persecuted whose lives are at risk. In some cases, these are people who helped us, like in Iraq. And now they need help to be kept safe from the terrorists in that country,” he says.
Last week, a federal judge put the executive order on hold, which means citizens from those six countries will be allowed into the US. However, the refugee program has been suspended.
President Trump says this order is needed so that a vetting system can be set up so that terrorists don’t come in with the refugees. But Senator Cardin says that vetting system is already in place. “There are vetted before they even come into our system. And then there’s an 18 to 24-month period, where there are multiple interviews and there are vetting from different agencies,” says Senator Cardin.
He also noted in a statement that members of the House and Senate, the President and the judges have sworn to uphold the US Constitution. “When the president of the United States abuses or ignores the Constitution, and attacks the integrity of the judiciary by calling a ruling ‘outrageous,’ or calls a judge a ‘so-called judge,’ he is undermining the entire system of government, not only the deicions with which he disagrees,” says Cardin in a statement.
‘I hope this executive order will be repealed,” said Senator Cardin. “I hope that we can work together in Congress to make sure we do everything we can to keep Americans safe, but do not jeopardize America’s role on immigration and refugee policies.”
By Kevin McManus