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Democrat lawmakers and social media critics are accusing President Donald Trump of rolling out a “bigoted” travel ban they say is riddled with “Islamophobia.”
“This discriminatory policy, which limits legal immigration, not only flies in the face of what our country is supposed to stand for, it will be harmful to our economy and communities that rely on the contributions of people who come to America from this wide range of countries,” Democratic Washington state Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in a Wednesday statement posted to her social media accounts. “Banning a whole group of people because you disagree with the structure or function of their government not only lays blame in the wrong place, it creates a dangerous precedent.”
Trump signed a proclamation Wednesday restricting travel to the U.S. from a total of 19 countries. Twelve countries, such as Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen, were deemed “very high risk” due to terrorist activity, weak or hostile governments, and high visa overstay rates, while seven other countries, such as Venezuela, Cuba and Laos, faced partial restrictions under the proclamation.
“The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas,” Trump said in a video posted Wednesday on social media. “We don’t want them.”
TRUMP BANS TRAVEL TO US FROM SEVERAL COUNTRIES TO BLOCK ‘DANGEROUS FOREIGN ACTORS’
“In the 21st century, we’ve seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign visa overstayers from dangerous places all over the world,” he added. “Thanks to Biden’s open-door policies, today there are millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.”
Officials charged terrorist attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman on Monday with a hate crime, attempted first-degree murder, crimes against at-risk adults/elderly and other charges after he allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a pro-Israel group, Run for Their Lives, in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday. The Egyptian national was living in the U.S. illegally after entering on a work visa two years ago that has since expired, according to federal officials.
TRUMP BANS TRAVEL TO US FROM SEVERAL COUNTRIES TO BLOCK ‘DANGEROUS FOREIGN ACTORS’
Trump’s travel restriction announcement sparked widespread backlash among Democratic lawmakers and critics on social media, who slammed Trump for allegedly promoting Islamophobia.
“Just now, Trump has re-issued his disgusting, bigoted, and Islamophobic travel ban,” Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., posted to X. “This goes against our core American values while doing nothing to make us safer. We can do better, we must do better.”
“The immigration dictatorship just announced a ban on immigration for 12 nationalities with 7 more facing draconian discrimination as well. Horrible policies with no justification,” libertarian think tank Cato Institute Director of Immigration Studies David Bier posted to X on Wednesday.
“We’ve seen this horror show before,” Democratic Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari posted on Wednesday. “It’s not about security. The travel ban is cruel, racist, and un-American.”
TRUMP VISA POLICY ‘FAR MORE RESTRAINED’ THAN BIDEN POLICY TARGETING ISRAELIS THAT FLEW UNDER THE RADAR: EXPERT
The U.S.’ largest Muslim civil rights group, the Council on American Islamic Relations, also released a statement denouncing the travel bans.
“Automatically banning students, workers, tourists, and other citizens of these targeted nations from coming to the United States will not make our nation safer,” Nihad Awad, the executive director of CAIR, said in a Wednesday statement. “Neither will imposing vague ideological screening tests that the government can easily abuse to ban immigrants based on their religious identity and political activism.”
“Make no mistake: Trump’s latest travel ban will NOT make America safer,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. posted to X. “We cannot continue to allow the Trump administration to write bigotry and hatred into U.S. immigration policy.”
“From his first Muslim Ban, Trump’s travel bans have always betrayed of the ideals and values that inspired America’s Founders,” Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., posted to X. “Trump’s use of prejudice and bigotry to bar people from entering the U.S. does not make us safer, it just divides us and weakens our global leadership.”
The CEO of Oxfam America, which is an international group of nongovernmental organizations that work to end hunger and poverty, also issued a blistering response to Trump’s announcement.
TRUMP ADMIN MULLS NEW TRAVEL BAN, BUT NO DECISIONS MADE YET
“By once again targeting individuals from Muslim-majority countries, countries with predominantly Black and brown populations, and countries in the midst of conflict and political instability, this executive order deepens inequality and perpetuates harmful stereotypes, racist tropes, and religious intolerance,” Oxfam America CEO Abby Maxman said in a statement. “This policy is not about national security — it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States.”
The White House defended that the new proclamation is “commonsense” and targeted at countries that “lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information,’ Fox Digital reported on Wednesday.
“President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital.
Trump came under fire from liberals and activist groups during his first administration when he signed an executive order banning travel and implementing “extreme vetting” for countries such as Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya in January 2017. Critics of the executive order derided it as Trump’s “Muslim ban.”
“To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion — this is about terror and keeping our country safe,” he said in a statement in 2017.
“There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order,” Trump added at the time.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr, Brooke Singman and Patrick Ward contributed to this report.
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