From the Office of Congressman Andy Harris:
Dr. Harris Issues Statement on Executive Order Increasing Vetting of Certain Immigration Applicants
WASHINGTON, DC: Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01) released the following statement regarding President Trump’s Executive Order:
“I support the President’s Executive Order to increase the vetting of refugees and immigrants entering the United States from countries where ISIS has a significant presence. The Executive Order temporarily suspends visas issued to individuals from seven specific countries prone to terrorism – similar to President Obama’s temporary ban on visas for refugees from Iraq in 2011 for the same reason. The vetting of individuals seeking to immigrate into the United States from countries where ISIS has a significant presence must be increased to better protect Americans’ safety and our national security. As President Trump noted, the seven countries are the same countries previously identified by the Obama Administration as sources of terror. I also applaud the decision to prioritize entry of those refugees who are religious minorities fleeing religious persecution, whether those minorities are Muslims, Yazidis, Zoroastrians, or Christians.
The United States should resume issuing visas to all these countries only after a review of these policies is completed, and only if the countries comply with supplying the information necessary to allow complete vetting.”
Andy how do you claim to be a good Catholic?
Would Jesus do this?
Jesus might not have done this, but Obama did as have other Presidents.
Actually OBama didn’t and if you would get your news from some where other than Fox you would know this.
Friggen dumb ass Trump sycophants…..
And where do you get your news from? Enlighten me o wise one.
Actually, Obama did do this. Seldom right but never in doubt is not a way to go through life.
The Obama administration stopped processing visas of Iraqi refugees for a period of six months in 2011, as a result of two previous admitted refugees being arrested for plotting and conspiring to commit a terrorist act.
I agree with Ms Moderate, Jesus would not have done this, but Obama certainly did and it is a matter of record. It has been reported on several of the national news outlets, including Fox.
While it is apparent that most of you will blindly follow along with Trump, some of us do go out and read the facts.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/30/donald-trump/why-comparing-trumps-and-obamas-immigration-restri/
As for Andy Harris demonstrating courage, the only thing that Andy is doing here is self preservation, he knows his base and just plays along.
Hey Kev – Well there is a reliable news source – politifact.com. the truth-o-meter. Wasn’t somebody just advising conservatives to get their news from more reliable sources than Fox??? And yet here is a Liberal citing the truth-o-meter on politifact.com as their source??? The truth-o-meter is more reliable than Fox??? Really??? Wow!!!! From all the criticism about conservative news sources, I was beginning to think the liberals were these learned scholars who had some secret all knowing always right source. And it turns out their all knowing source is the truth-o-meter at politifact.com. Unbelievable!!!
http://nyer.cm/7KVoRY7
This is what a Christian would sat Andy: “ Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” … “For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ Matthew 25:31-46
Gary, that is a fairly big stretch since Jesus was not talking about radical Islamists that wanted to do nothing but kill him….he was talking about his neighbors. What a STREEEETCH!!!!
http://nyer.cm/7KVoRY7
Mr. Harris. Thank you for standing by our president as he implements the common sense actions that were an essential part of his campaign and part of the reason he was elected. Please stay firm as many on both sides get weak knees as they watch the 24/7 promotion of this orchestrated protest. I applaud your courage.
Looks like a good ole white boys, can’t get along!
Let me see if I have this straight–Obama did it so it must be good–in other words–Obama is the Gold Standard by which all Republican actions are to be measured. I assume that means that everyone agreeing on the Muslim ban will agree to fight against the repeal of the ACA, gutting of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and the appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.
Rep Harris’ comment on giving priority to religious minorities and then citing Muslims as first in the list is asinine given that the ban only applies to majority Muslim country–does he have any idea what he is talking about–I’ll bet the same blurb can be found on numerous other Republican Congresspersons website–cut and paste–not thought required.
The point being made is not that Obama’s actions were good lets do it again but where the heck was all your phony concern and screaming hysteria you phony, partisan, noncritical thinking, America hating, globalist political hacks when the previous administration did the same thing.
If this EO is such a good idea, why were Kelly, Mattis, TillersonTillerso and Corker left in the dark? The execution of this order was a fiasco and made the US look foolish in the eyes of the world.
The ban is only 4 months. Why not look into system of giving out visa’s. These countries seem to have a history of being prone to terrorism. I would rather we be safe than sorry.
Why do we care what these other countries think. Maybe some of them need to do this after a number of terrorist attacks in their countries.
We are possessed with Russia trying to intercede in our elections . Seems many foreign demonstrators think they have right to intercede in our policies with all the marches in their countries in the past few weeks.
We need to care about how the rest of the world sees us because we are not the only country on this planet. I think many of Trumps supporters are in denial that globalism is here to stay.
If Trump takes his America First philosophy too far, our influence in the world shrinks and there are other players (China, Russia…) who are very eager to step into our role.
And under whose watch did those countries surge in power and influence?????
Obama gave billions to countries that hate us and they don’t give a damn about us. He was the best friend to our greatest adversaries. They loved him being in office particularly Sharia dominated countries. It was a laugher when people were concerned about Obama security concerns when he traveled to Kenya. No real enemy to the U.S. would harm him. It was not in there best interest. As far as Russia and China they were content with sitting back and watching the liberal ” I need a time out” free loaders let the U.S. go down the shitter. You know the warm and fuzzy p—-s that think we should let anybody come in to the country. Before anyone critizes current immigration security measures they need to query residents of England, France, Germany, Belgium and see what they think. These were some of the countries that after WWII thought it was the right thing to allow some members of what Obama calls “a peaceful religion” to immigrate in huge numbers in to their countries. Asked them if they could go back in time if they would make the same decision. NOT! If the truth hurts too bad. Wake up before it is too late!
What is the Republican fascination with the p word?
They were not left in the dark. They were unaware of the final details. In fact, no one was left in the dark. The man has been saying he would do this for the last 18 months. There was no fiasco. The chaos was created by orchestrated demonstrations over a handful of folks that were temporarily inconvenienced and the hysterical mainstream media and radical leftists that would rather put Americans at risk than see Trump succeed. If you want to see the definition of fiasco, look at the rollout of the ACA.
As of now, we are still seen as the global leader. When Trump’s policies are in effect, you will see how quickly our influence shrinks. I do not understand how you believe taking an isolationist approach will not effect our role in the world.
Maybe if we weren’t the global leader anymore, the terrorists would leave us alone. Isn’t it because of our “influence” beyond our borders that they hate us?
So much for Reagan’s shining city on a hill.
And thank you for presenting some alternative facts.
A mosque in Canada was fire bombed by a Canadian, therefore, Canadians are terrorists. Ban them. Did anybody notice that countries who have sent terrorists to the U.S. and where Trump has property are not on the list? Andy: it is about Trump’s money and not national security.
This again with the “he didn’t ban countries the he does business with” crap. He took the same countries the last president used and basically just tightened restrictions. It has nothing to do with money. in fact, it has nothing to do with being Muslim. Most immigrants that come here come from countries not on the list. Trump just wants to temporarily stop accepting those refugees that are not easily vetted because the countries they come from don’t have good background data on them.
The responses to Andy explain why he keeps getting elected. Harford county’s voter base are idiots.
Only a deranged uneducated mind can equate OBamas ban on issuing visa’s to putting refugees back on the next plane out of the country..
This alternate facts bs is getting old quick.
No one was put on a plane and sent back. Every single detainee was eventually released into the country. I personally have been inconvenienced in airports for hours on end and I never had armies of Soros backed anarchists screaming about my rights being infringed upon.
Vicki you post as others you have put up are fine examples of your ignorance, You should really do your research it will make you look less ignorant. Google the name Suha Abushamma and get back to us about your claim no one was sent away. Or you can believe the alternate facts Fox news peddles.
It is all over the news plenty of people were sent back, if you didn’t get that information you should consider a new source for your news.
Geesh we sent back doctors….. disgusting.
Thanks for the information. I took your advice and did look up Ms. Abushamma. She sounds like a lovely young lady. The kind of person I would want as a neighbor and someone with excellent judgement. At the end of the article I read, she decided to use this inconvenience as a way to extend her vacation. She also said she COMPLETELY understood this action but wished it were not so broad. I heard on FOX and MSNBC that DHS released a statement saying all detainees had been released. Perhaps I misunderstood on both occasions. Thank you for providing info that I had not yet come across. I’m always happy to be informed by others.
So why do you think Fox news didn’t bother covering the story of previously vetted people being put back on planes?
I know you will not respond so I’ll help you. It did not fit the narrative of their alternate facts which makes them a false news network.
1,060 green-card holders granted waivers
Alan Gomez
@alangomez USA TODAY
The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday it will allow 872 refugees to enter the country after they were initially barred from flying to the U.S. under President Trump’s executive order on immigration.
Homeland Security began detaining immigrants who arrived at U.S. airports immediately after Trump signed his order Friday evening. The order temporarily suspended the U.S. refugee program and barred entry to most people coming from seven majority Muslim countries — Libya, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen.
By Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it was detaining 109 people affected by the ban. DHS officials say all those people were cleared by Sunday night. But civil rights groups and immigration advocates say people remained in custody at airports through Monday.
On Tuesday, Kevin McAleenan, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said more than 500,000 foreigners flew into the country in the 72 hours following Trump’s order. He said CBP agents granted waivers to 1,060 green-card holders from the countries affected by Trump’s order.
McAleenan said 75 waivers were granted to other visa holders, including people who had special visas intended for military translators. But he said 721 travelers were stopped from boarding planes headed for the U.S.
McAleenan and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly insisted the department was allowed to review drafts of Trump’s order ahead of time.
Kelly denied reports of “chaos” at U.S. airports, arguing that things were running smoothly.
He added that the executive order “is not a ban on Muslims.”
SMH, Please see the post from Barbara that puts things in perspective regarding the numbers of folks detained and how the whole episode was handled. It comes from USA Today, not FOX News. Please take a look. If there are horror stories about folks being put on planes and sent back they are not front and center in the news. And I am not talking about FOX. I’m talking MSNBC, CNN and OAN. I would imagine that if there was a significant number of folks sent back with sob stories to tell, they would be amplified by the obviously anti-Trump networks. We would be hearing it 24/7. Also, please tell hnk that being a physician does not and should not protect someone from scrutiny. I’m not suggesting that Ms. Summa AB…was a terrorist but a number of well educated professionals, including MDs in Europe have been found to be plotting terrorist acts. Your level of education may not say anything about your ideology. My heart breaks for anyone caught in the kind of terror that these folks find themselves I want to see them find help and sanctuary. But I do not want to do it at the expense of our own safety, knowing that the jihadis have called for their people to infiltrate this group. Can’t we find ways to help these people other than letting thousands of unvetted people into our country. Why not work with middle eastern gov’s to provide sanctuary closer to home?
President Trumps actions should have been enforced years ago and we wouldn’t be in this position now. The bottom line is there is no good reason to let anyone into this country unless we know exactly who they are. It’s really not hare to comprehend folks.
Might I suggest a bus tour to Ellis Island so you could brush up on what this country stands for.
While you are in New York stop by where the twin towers once stood. Maybe you will get the point Tool.
This…. a bunch of Saudi’s kill 1000’s of Americans and we invade Iraq.
Oh well at least no one I know was killed by those 9-11 terrorists.
Might I introduce you to a history book that outlines the many times in our history that we restricted or otherwise engineered the kind of immigration we felt the country needed at the time. It’s what sovereign countries do. No one has a right to come here. It is a privilege that needs to earned by understanding and wishing to assimilate to the most fundamental of American values.
Yea locking up all the Japanese during WWII was fun. Something to be so proud of.
That was internment (done by democratFDR) and not immigration. And i agree, not our finest hour. My mother lived across the street from one of the camps and tells stories of befriending and playing with the children that lived there.
why don’t you read up no the history on Ellis Island, we did not accept everybody that came through there. Many were turned away for various reasons ranging from possibly having a contagious disease, to possibly being an illegal contract laborer to the “fear of becoming a public charge” (Meaning that they would refuse you if they felt the government had to take care of you, which would not happen today)
Here is the Kicker, once those same peoples that came here through Ellis Island gained some “political clout” they worked to change the immigration laws to keep other out by enforcing quota systems and the like. So History is on the side of this administration whether we like it or not.
This country stands for freedom and equality for all who are born here and those permitted to enter. Not all are permitted to enter and many are not permitted to be born as a result of the Roe v Wade decision.
Barbara,
i have to correct you on that statement. This Country Does stand For freedom and equal rights, not equality.
Equal rights and equality are two very different things.
Point taken. Thanks for posting.
Has anyone noticed that the majority of comments from what could be described as the left tend to be personal, name calling attacks with very little reference to truth or reality? I love to argue with liberals. The minute they call you a racist, homophobic, sexist, fill in the blank, you know that you’ve managed to crack that tiny part of their brain where the practice of cognitive dissonance intersects with rational thinking.
It is so ironic that you say this about those who disagree with you while you defend a man who made disgusting comments about women, came up with nicknames for his opponents (Pocohontos and Lyin Ted) like a 6th grade mean girl and made fun of a handicapped reporter.
I’m not defending the man or his disreputable actions. I’m defending those policies with which I agree. I’m also pointing out the hypocrisy of the left that never seem to experience the vapors when their guy does the same thing.
Sort of like how the Republicans all of a sudden get the vapors about Democrats holding up nominees while they sat on MerricknGarland for months and months? Hipocrasy is a two way street.
It certainly is. My personal opinion was that he should have been voted on and rejected. Unfortunately, one never knows when Republicans will get all wobbly knee’d and break ranks. One thing I have to hand to the left is they really know how to keep their people in line. Must be all that group think. But just to let you know. It was none other than the sainted Joe Biden, who as senator, introduced the informal rule that lame duck presidents should not be in the position of filling SCOTUS vacancies. Just saying.
The immigrants who passed thru Ellis Island were checked and vetted just like President Trump wants to do now. That is what Ellis Island was for. I don’t think this country stands for open borders and allowing anyone to come here. After all we do have finite resources. I say open the borders after all Americans have a safe place to live, adequate food and a decent education,
You do realize that the people who were turned away this weekend were also vetted before the recieved their green cards?
Do you realise that “vetting” in that part of the world, where there is essentially no functional government
means very little. Obamas own security team said we could not properly screen people and ISIS has encouraged it’s followers to infiltrate refugee groups to gain entry and pull off another San Bernadino, Orlando, Fort Hood, Boston Marathon, Chatanooga etc.
CNN is reporting that all of those individuals who were initially detained this weekend and who held a green card were subsequently allowed to enter the US, they were not turned away as you have stated. Do you have information refuting the CNN report?
Isn’t Andy Harris the one who when he was running for Congress said in his TV ads that he was the son of immigrants? I guess what was fine for his parents is not fine for anyone else?
Anyone else? The administration has not banned all immigration to the USA. 3BCP
Can’t we all just get along?
“Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
? Benjamin Franklin
NONE of the countries listed in the Muslim ban have committed terrorist acts in the U.S. Not One. I have no issue with targeting and eradicating Islamic terrorist, but to ban people form all over the world simply because of their faith is an idiotic and juvenile way to combat a serious issue. If the orange clown wants to prove that he is the best president in the history of presidents work to bring peace in the middle east so refugees won’t want to leave.
THE majority of school shootings are committed by young white males (who by the way have killed more Americans than any Islamic terrorist) Should we then ban all young white males from entering the country? It is a ridiculous statement but it is what the orange clown has enacted in the reverse.
THAT we would allow any politician to trample on our values and ethics says more about us than it does them.
I do not blame the orange clown for just being himself. Any clown can stand up and spout crap. My issue is with the American who give power to his crap.
This is not a Muslim ban. This is a travel ban based on the geopolitical region from which the traveler originates. These are the exact same countries targeted by the previous adm for particular concern. There are Christians and Yazidis that are also caught up in this temporary travel ban. Please try to get past your loathing of the president and look at this EO with clear eyes.
Congratulations apparently you know more than Rudy Giuliani who claims Trump asked him to design this Muslim ban.
You got any extra rooms in your house? Maybe we can put a couple of Muslim refugees in your basement. Don’t be alarmed if you see them with 50 bags of fertilizer and a couple gallons of diesel fuel. I am sure it is nothing.
Oh I’m so afraid I I just took a hot donald in my pants….
I hope everyone understands that ISIS in not just a radical muslim organization, it’s a radical SUNNI MUSLIM organization. If you all remember correctly, the SUNNI’s were the minority sect in Iraq that was also the wealthy and government class. In all probability we made ISIS. We went into Iraq, upset the natural order of that country and did it all in the name of a LIE. ISIS gained headway in Syria due to the civil war that was ongoing and formed alliances with the rebels we armed to fight the dictator Assad. In all probability, there are some radical members of Syrian refugees that will either commit acts of terrorism or will teach the hatred of America to others due to the suffering we caused in the Middle East. My problem with the Muslim Ban, YES its a ban, is Trump didn’t include Saudi Arabia, Yemen, UAE and Egypt in his list. These are the countries that financed the 911 attacks. These are our true enemies. Instead we give them millions of dollars each year to help them kill us. The Syrian refugee’s are a potential terrorist threat and if not the adults coming here now, their children will be the ones. Radicalization in the name of god is a terrible thing, but it will not go away. Faith and radicalism have always gone hand in hand. Every religion has had its share and YES we have brought this all upon ourselves. Trump’s policy regarding this issue is one I agree with.