DHS Secretary: ‘I Will Not Gamble with American Lives’
Kelly bats down reports president’s executive order is a Muslim or travel ban
by Brendan Kirby | Updated 31 Jan 2017 at 3:24 PM
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Tuesday calmly sought to put into perspective President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily halting the refugee program and travel from some countries.
Kelly said at a news conference the move was not out of the ordinary, is not a “travel ban,” and is not based on religion.
“Furthermore, this is not — I repeat not — a ban on Muslims,” he said. “The homeland security mission to safeguard the American people, our homeland, our values — and religious liberty is one of our most fundamental and treasured values.”
The order indefinitely suspends the refugee program for Syrians fleeing civil war. It stops admissions of all refugees for 120 days and reduces the cap on refugees for this fiscal year from 110,000 to 50,000. And — perhaps most controversially — it imposes a 90-day freeze on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, with flexibility for exceptions approved by Kelly and the secretary of state.
Kelly explained that his agency will spend the next 30 days assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the current immigration system. During the following 60 days, he said, U.S. officials would inform foreign governments of the documentation America requires to permit travel from their countries.
“This analysis is long overdue and supported by career intelligence officials,” he aid. “We cannot gamble with American lives. I will not gamble with American lives.”
White House press secretary Sean Spicer, in a separate briefing, reiterated the administration’s intention to implement the new policy.
“Calling for tougher vetting on individuals and travelers from seven nations is not extreme,” he said. “It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country.”
Kevin McAleenan, the acting Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said at the Homeland Security news conference that 1 million travelers have passed across U.S. borders in the 72 hours since Trump signed the executive order on Friday. Of those, 500,000 were foreigners. And of that number, U.S. customs officials detained just 721 people.
He said that the executive order technically applied to legal permanent residents, but he made clear that people with green cards would continue to be allowed into the country.
“We worked quickly with counsel to devise a waiver process,” he said.
McAleenan said some 1,060 green card holders already have been allowed to return to America, and another 75 travelers received other waivers.
Under the same mechanism, McAleenan said, 872 refugees this week would be allowed to enter under waivers because of special circumstances.
David Glawe, acting under secretary for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, said the pause ordered by Trump would provide time to develop new procedures to keep Americans safe.
“I’m taking a look how law enforcement; the intelligence community; the Department of Defense; [and] our federal, state, [and] local law enforcement agencies share information and how we run those data not just against refugee populations but anyone trying to come inbound to the United States,” he said.
Kelly said possible changes to carry out what Trump has called "extreme vetting" might include examining social media posts.
In other matters, Kelly denied reports that customs officials improperly handcuffed travelers who had been detained over the weekend. He also denied reports that he was out of the loop when Trump was drafting the executive order. He said he has known for a year or two that the executive order was coming based on Trump's campaign for president. He added that he saw two drafts of the order.
In the weekly news conference of the House Republican leadership, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) made clear there is no daylight between the congressional majority and Trump on the policy.
"The president has a responsibility for the security of this country," he said. "Go back — remember when we had the Paris shooting? Remember when we heard about credible intelligence that ISIS was trying to infiltrate refugee populations?"
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