President Donald Trump says his crackdown on refugees and citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries “is not a Muslim ban.”
A day after signing an executive order implementing the ban immediately, Trump says it’s “working out very nicely.”
But confusion, worry and outrage boiled over Saturday as airlines blocked people from traveling to the United States and legal challenges were mounted.
Included is a 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The U.S. refugee program is suspended for 120-days.
Trump’s order imposed the most aggressive ban on Syrians, indefinitely blocking entry to the U.S. by anyone from that country, including those fleeing civil war.
“It’s working out very nicely. We’re going to have a strict ban, and we’re going to have extreme vetting, which we should have had in this country for many years,” he said in full.
“I think it’s going to be very successful,” Trump said of a new plan for ISIS. “That’s big stuff.”
The Department of Homeland Security has designated those seven countries as “countries of concern” for terrorist activity.
Epoch Times contributed.
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