Lawmakers respond to President Trump’s executive order
Idaho lawmakers are responding to President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. In a statement, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R) wrote “During town meetings I held across my state, Idahoans affirmed that we must take steps to secure our borders and I agree. We will need to constantly refine and improve our vetting process.”
Representative Raul Labrador (R) also shared his thoughts on the President’s decision. In the statement Labrador says the media offered a mischaracterization of the order as a “ban on Muslims”
Read his full statement below:
“Congress has identified significant flaws with the vetting process for those seeking entry into the United States. The prior administration failed to adequately address security concerns. President Trump has finally taken necessary national security and public safety measures regarding refugees and non-immigrants seeking entry. The media’s mischaracterization of the order as a ‘ban on Muslims’ is not only false, it is intentionally designed to mislead the public and to undermine the President’s agenda. The ban is temporary and does not exclude any particular group based on religion.”
“The President of the United States has sweeping powers to suspend the entry into the United States of aliens if their entry is detrimental to the interests of the United States. The Administration, however, could have done a better job of implementing this executive order. They failed to provide clear guidance on the policy which caused substantial confusion at the ports of entry. I urge the Administration to revisit the order’s applicability to legal permanent residents of the United States, and exercise great care before taking future action. Inadequate review and poor implementation of this executive action threatens to undermine otherwise sound policy. I remain a strong supporter of President Trump’s bold efforts to keep America safe, but they must be legally sound and uniformly enforced. I look forward to working with the President on these issues.”
Congressman Mike Simpson issued a statement Monday morning reading “The President is fulfilling his duty and promise to evaluate the screening process for those attempting to enter our country to ensure that these individuals are indeed safe and pose no threat to us. However, the Administration could have and should have disseminated the details and enforcement guidelines of the Executive Order in a more effective manner to minimize the unintended consequences of this change in policy. I am glad to see that the Administration has already taken steps to clarify these guidelines, and I hope all other errors in implementation of this order will be immediately addressed.”
