WILMINGTON, Del. - U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in response to the executive order signed by President Trump yesterday:
“Nearly eighty years ago, in one of our country’s most shameful chapters, the United States refused entry to Jewish refugees fleeing the horrors of the Holocaust. Many of those denied refuge in the U.S. returned to Europe and were murdered by the Nazi regime. Today, Americans awoke to reports that refugees, many fleeing violence and persecution at home, have been detained at U.S. airports and are unable to enter the United States, even after years of waiting and thorough vetting. That the executive order by which we are denying them refuge was signed by President Trump on International Holocaust Remembrance Day displays a willful indifference to human suffering and to our own country’s history.
“I understand the real fears that Americans have about bad actors seeking to take advantage of our compassion, but we cannot allow fears of terrorism to undermine the values that have made us an example for the rest of the world. The United States has in place thorough and detailed protocols to vet refugees seeking asylum. Instead of protecting us from terrorist attacks, the discriminatory standards for refugee admissions signed yesterday will more likely serve to fuel terrorist recruitment, further alienate Muslims in America, and force our allies in Europe to bear an even greater burden of refugee resettlement.
“We are a nation of immigrants that has tried to lead by example. But today the world is seeing an America that is returning to a politics of exclusion based on religion or nationality. I’m angered and saddened by President Trump’s decision to sign an executive order that seems intended to make a point, not to make us safe. The executive orders by this president that exceed his authority can and should be challenged, as were the executive orders of previous presidents of both parties.”