Democrats To Rally Against Trump Order at Supreme Court
Pelosi 'Dear Colleague' letter decries travel ban as 'immoral'
Congressional Democrats are taking their protest of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travelers from Muslim countries to the Supreme Court — at least for a rally.
While several federal judges temporarily halted the president’s executive order, House and Senate Democrats on Monday plan to gather in front of the high court to call on Trump to rescind his order that is preventing refugees and other travelers from Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer will be joined by their colleagues and immigrants and refugees to reverse what they called a “hateful, anti-refugee and anti-immigrant” order. Several Democrats joined protesters at airports and other venues to decry the treatment of those detained.
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“President Trump’s unconstitutional executive order banning refugees and the citizens of Muslim nations betrays everything the Statue of Liberty and our nation stand for. The President’s action is not only unconstitutional but immoral,” Pelosi wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter on Sunday. “We are witnessing an historic injustice unfold, and we must keep the pressure on,” she wrote.
Democrats on both sides of the Capitol are also introducing legislation to rescind the ban.
Trump issued an order Friday that banned for 90 days citizens from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Sudan and Yemen. Syria, Iraq and Somalia were among the top five countries of origin for refugees entering the United States in 2016, according to the State Department.
Over the weekend, some House Republicans joined the chorus of criticism of the order, including Michigan Rep. Justin Amash and Pennsylvania Rep. Charlie Dent.
Dent, who represents Allentown, one of the top destinations for Syrian refugees, told The Washington Post, “this is ridiculous. I guess I understand what his intention is, but unfortunately the order appears to have been rushed through without full consideration.”
Amash, the son of immigrants from the Middle East, tweeted, “We must do much more to properly vet refugees, but a blanket ban represents an extreme approach not consistent with our nation’s values.”
Their leaders, though, were far less critical.
Speaker Paul D. Ryan backed the order, while noting that he supported the refugee resettlement process.
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“President Trump is right to make sure we are doing everything possible to know exactly who is entering our country,” Ryan said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had some skepticism but stopped short of “blanket criticism” of the order.
“I think it’s a good idea to tighten the vetting process,” McConnell said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “But I also think it’s important to remember that some of our best sources in war against radical Islamic terrorist are Muslims both in this country and overseas.”
Contact Rahman at remarahman@cqrollcall.com or follow her on Twitter at @remawriter
