Travel Restrictions Spur Local Debate
/By Jano Tantongco
jtantongco@longislandergroup.com
President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting entry of refugees and travelers entering the United States from seven nations in the Middle East has been met with support and opposition at the local level.
The seven countries are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The executive order signed by Trump on Friday suspends the United States’ refugee program for 120 days and prevents non-citizens from those countries from entering the country for 90 days.
“The seven countries named in the executive order are the same countries previously identified by the Obama administration as sources of terror,” reads a statement issued by the White House on Sunday. Trump’s administration aims to restructure the refugee program to allow for “extreme vetting.”
Huntington Republican Com-mittee chairman Toni Tepe supported the executive order, citing security concerns.
“I’m not part of the president’s cabinet, but I’m going to assume that they’re going to be looking through all of the rules and regulations that apply to someone coming into this country and making sure that they live up to the standards that need to be put in place to ensure safety for us as Americans here in this country,” she said in an interview Monday.
“No one is opposed to people coming into this country,” she added. “We’re simply saying everyone needs to be vetted properly. Let us always remember that safety for the people who live in this country has to be foremost.”
Critics of the executive order include Mamoon Iqbal, a board member of the Masjid Noor mosque in Huntington, who described it as a thinly veiled “Muslim ban” – a term that the White House has defended against.
“It’s unjustifiable, it’s racist, it has no place in America, especially in the year 2017,” Iqbal said in an interview Tuesday.
He continued, “Nobody is going to argue about national security, nobody is going to argue about keeping our country safe. That is the first priority of government: to keep our country safe. But, the way it’s been implemented, the haphazardness and the selectivity of it doesn’t bode well for our national security.”
Calling to mind the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Iqbal said that as a nation of immigrants, the country’s admission of foreigners should be a non-issue.
“You would think that this is kind of a well-oiled machine, we know how to deal with it,” Iqbal said. “But, what’s shocking right now, is that in 2017 we’re having this issue.”
State Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci (R-South Huntington) said in a statement emailed Wednesday that Trump ran his campaign on a platform of security and said this initiative was one of “executive orders aimed at accomplishing this goal.”
“While the security of all Americans is of paramount concern to the president, it is also important to remember that we are a nation of immigrants, many of whom set course for our shores with the hope of a better life, free from persecution or danger,” Lupinacci stated.
He added, “With the ever-increasing unrest in the Middle East and tumult throughout the world, it is important that we remain devoted to our American values, without compromising the safety of our communities.”
One month into his new post at the helm of New York’s 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-Huntington) said in an emailed statement that security and safety are important concerns for the nation. He added that “we cannot abandon our values.”
Suozzi opposed targeting whole populations based on religion. The Trump administration has repeatedly brushed off claims of such a target as inaccurate.
“I am further concerned about the untold suffering of families, women, children, and deserving men who have already been ‘vetted’ and are now being denied entry to the land of freedom and opportunity they have worked so hard to enter,” Suozzi stated. “America is the greatest country in the world. Its greatness has been enhanced by newcomers yearning to breathe free for over two centuries.”
Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), of New York’s 2nd Congressional District, designates the protection of the country as the “main priority,” ahead of the purpose of the refugee program, he said in a statement emailed Wednesday.
“The president’s executive order temporarily pausing immigration and refugee resettlement from the most dangerous terrorist nations to improve vetting procedures is appropriate and necessary,” King stated. “President Trump is building upon bipartisan legislation passed last Congress and signed by President Obama in the wake of the Paris attacks.”
