Trump Team Digs In: “We Wont Apologize For Keeping America Safe”
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Jan 29, 2017
Under assault from foreign governments, domestic CEOs, and thousands of protesters across the nation, members of the Trump administration were stern in their refusal to budge, and were unified in their support of the president’s sweeping executive order that bars refugees and people from seven nations from entering the U.S.
Repeating a phrase first uttered by Trump, top aides to the president denied that the immigration order amounted to a Muslim ban and pointed to the Obama administration for identifying the seven countries included in the order. The Trump team also defended the executive order’s at times botched implementation amid backlash from some lawmakers and Federal Judges blocking the partial immgiration order.
Among the more vocal defenders of Trump were top aide Kellyanne Conway, who on Sunday emphasized the importance of having safe borders, suggesting that the small number of people who were inconvenienced by the order was worth it to keep the country safe. She said 325,000 people “from overseas came into this country just yesterday through our airports.”
“You’re talking about 300 and some who have been detained or are prevented from gaining access to an aircraft in their home countries,” Conway said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Thats 1 percent. And I think in terms of the upside being greater protection of our borders, of our people, it’s a small price to pay.” She also echoed Trump and insisted the immigration order was not a Muslim ban, even as some Democratic lawmakers have argued the opposite.
“These seven countries, what about the 46 majority-Muslim countries that are not included? Right there, it totally undercuts this nonsense that this is a Muslim ban,” Conway said. “This is a ban on prospective travel from countries, trying to prevent terrorists in this country, from countries that have a recent history of training and exporting and harboring terrorists.”
Returning the attack, Conway said the list of seven countries included in the order actually came from former President Obama’s administration, which it did as per a DHS announcement from February 2016. In February 2016, the Obama administration added Libya, Yemen and Somalia to a list of “countries of concern” with respect to its visa waiver program. Iran, Syria, Iraq and Sudan were already on the list, according to a release from the Department of Homeland Security.
“These are countries that have a history of training, harboring, exporting terrorists,” Conway said. She added that the president will “certainly keep identifying threats and risks.”
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