At the end of last week, President Trump signed an executive order expanding his administration’s so-called travel ban to cover additional countries. That news isn’t sitting well with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and she blasted the rule as “callous” and “cruel” in an official statement.
Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf was quick to dismantle Pelosi’s argument, delivering the news that she got it completely wrong via Twitter on Sunday.
Rules will vary
Under its terms, Burma (also known as Myanmar), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania will be added to the existing list of seven restricted nations. However, the new rule won’t impact all of the proscribed countries equally.
While residents of Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Nigeria will be unable to apply for immigrant visas, those in Sudan and Tanzania will simply be ineligible for visas issued on the basis of diversity.
The countries were selected due to difficulty in vetting the individuals who live in them. The policy won’t take effect until midnight on February 22, but the House Speaker was quick to react with condemnation.
Pelosi isn’t happy
“The Trump Administration’s expansion of its outrageous, un-American travel ban threatens our security, our values and the rule of law. The sweeping rule, barring more than 350 million individuals from predominantly African nations from traveling to the United States, is discrimination disguised as policy,” Pelosi declared on Friday.
“House Democrats continue to stand opposed to President Trump’s cruel, un-American travel ban in all of its iterations,” she continued.
Pelosi had earlier touted something called the NO BAN Act, a piece of legislation that would limit Trump’s ability to exclude immigrants.
“In the coming weeks, the House Judiciary Committee will mark up and bring to the Floor the NO BAN Act to prohibit religious discrimination in our immigration system and limit the President’s ability to impose such biased and bigoted restrictions,” Pelosi said on January 27.
The California Democrat went on quote America’s fortieth president, stating, “In his last address as President, Ronald Reagan warned that ‘If we ever close the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.’”
“House Democrats are working tirelessly to uphold our role as a global leader and a beacon of hope and opportunity for countless people around the world,’” she added. Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf replied to her via tweet.
He sent out an official statement along with a caption that read, “Facts are stubborn. The new travel restrictions do not apply to 350 million people — as some of our critics would lead you to believe. Such statements are grossly inaccurate and irresponsible.”
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