Pence: Trump Has Backed Off Muslim Immigration Ban

Thursday, October 6, 2016 06:28 PM
By: Eric Mack

Mike Pence said Donald Trump is no longer calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

"It's not Donald Trump’s position now," Pence told CNN’s "New Day" on Thursday.

Pence, who had called Trump’s once-proposed Muslim immigration ban proposal "offensive and unconstitutional" in November 2015, joined the Trump campaign as the vice presidential nominee in July. Pence then supported a temporary ban on all immigration that could be expanded to other religions, according to a radio interview in August.

After a successful debate Tuesday against Democratic vice president nominee Tim Kaine, Pence is now stumping for a unified front on immigration with Trump.

"We have a deportation force," Pence told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program Thursday. "It's called Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE].

"We're going to get criminal aliens out of the country first. We're going to get people to leave the country who are supposed to have left because their visas were overstayed, and then we're going to reform the immigration system."

Pence clarified his ticket's position on banning immigrants from specific regions, not necessarily religions.

"We're talking about areas of the world, territories and specifically countries that have been so compromised by terrorism that we can't know for certain who those people are," Pence told MSNBC.

"Germany just a couple of weeks ago arrested three more Syrian refugees for being involved in terrorist planning and terrorist operations. The Paris attacks were organized by two Syrian refugees."

http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/mike.../06/id/752092/

I see absolutely nothing wrong with a temporary ban put into place until a thorough vetting process can be established. My understanding of the system now is that the current vetting process is very minimal to non-existent. This is extremely important to our national security and should be taken very seriously! Personally, I think this is a winning issue. I guess it's all about presentation. Obviously Trump's advisers, handlers, or whatever they call themselves have convinced Trump it's a losing plan. :-(

Pence didn't articulate Trump's position correctly. Trump hasn't abandoned his Muslim ban, he's expanded the ban to include anyone from any area that might pose a threat to the United States, our citizens and/or our values.

rump No Longer Backs Blanket Ban on Muslims Entering U.S.

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By Daniel Politi

http://www.slate.com/content/dam/sla...mo-xlarge2.jpgDonald Trump arrives at Trump International Golf Links on Saturday in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Donald Trump appeared to soften his tone on two critical campaign promises on Saturday, saying his supposed blanket ban on Muslims entering the United States wouldn’t really be a full-on prohibition as he also walked back promises of mass deportations.

The day began with the presumptive Republican nominee appearing to contradict his vow to fully ban Muslims from entering the United States, telling reporters on a golf course in Scotland that he wants to restrict entry by people from a number of “terror countries.” That came after he said that it “wouldn’t bother me” if a Scottish Muslim entered the United States. Which countries would he consider to be “terror countries”? Trump didn’t specify. "They're pretty well-decided. All you have to do is look!"





Even then, though, it didn’t sound like Trump was saying citizens from certain countries should be fully banned, suggesting there could be a vetting process that would allow exceptions. "I don't want people coming in from the terror countries. You have terror countries! I don't want them, unless they're very, very strongly vetted."

Even without the details, it appeared to mark quite a shift from his previous written-down position of “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” That statement is still on his website, but Trump press secretary Hope Hicksconfirmed that this is indeed the policy, although she said it wasn’t really new.

The Washington Post explains:

Hicks said in an email that her boss took this new position—which is a dramatic scaling back of the position he first took in early December—during a policy speech nearly two weeks ago. In that speech, Trump did not mention Muslims and called for a temporary ban on "certain people coming from certain horrible—where you have tremendous terrorism in the world, you know what those places are." At the time, it appeared that Trump was expanding his ban to include more people, not limiting its scope.

Hicks wasn’t alone. Other staffers appeared to want to spin it into a non-news story, saying that’s what Trump has been advocating for weeks. "It is about terrorism and not about religion. It is about Muslims from countries that support terrorism," National Finance Chairman Steven Mnuchin said.

Later, in an interview with Bloomberg, Trump implied he would not pursue a policy of mass deportations because he has “the biggest heart of anybody.” He also criticized President Obama’s policies on the issue, saying he “has mass deported vast numbers of people—the most ever, and it’s never reported. I think people are going to find that I have not only the best policies, but I will have the biggest heart of anybody.” When he was asked specifically about whether he would pursue a policy of “mass deportation,” Trump was direct: “No, I would not call it mass deportations.” Trump had previously called for deporting the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants who are currently living in the United States.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slate...ering_u_s.html

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Originally Posted by Judy

Pence didn't articulate Trump's position correctly. Trump hasn't abandoned his Muslim ban, he's expanded the ban to include anyone from any area that might pose a threat to the United States, our citizens and/or our values.

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While he may not of completely abandoned a ban, he certainly hasn't expanded it from his original proposal ....... he has reduced it. Pence is correct, Trump no longer supports his original plan.

Trump has expanded it as I said to anyone from anywhere until they've been properly vetted, but if you'd like to think otherwise, that is up to you.

It is not necessary to target Muslim believers as restricted from immigration to the US. All that is necessary is to target countries that sponsors or shelters terrorist and that would be as good or better than actually targeting Muslims. Or simply vetting immigrants for support or advocacy of the values advanced by terrorism would be just as good.

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Originally Posted by Judy

Trump has expanded it as I said to anyone from anywhere until they've been properly vetted, but if you'd like to think otherwise, that is up to you.

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You're not paying attention.

Excerpt (original plan):

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Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.

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https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-r...im-immigration

It's not a matter of what I think, it's what he has done. Yes, he has backed off his original plan to ban all Muslims. Now he just wants a temporary ban on Muslim's from terrorist countries with exceptions. In an attempt to be a little more PC he has backed off his original plan somewhat. That is not an expansion. I agree with him on this. However, it's not honest to misrepresent or exaggerate his current position.

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Originally Posted by MW

You're not paying attention.

Excerpt (original plan):

Quote:

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Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.

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https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-r...im-immigration

It's not a matter of what I think, it's what he has done. Yes, he has backed off his original plan to ban all Muslims. Now he just wants a temporary ban on Muslim's from terrorist countries with exceptions. In an attempt to be a little more PC he has backed off his original plan somewhat. That is not an expansion. I agree with him on this. However, it's not honest to misrepresent or exaggerate his current position.

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If you really had an argument, you would post a quote of Trump actually saying what you say he said. Not only that but the link you cite has a quote that says absolutely nothing about banning Muslim immigration.

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Mr. Trump stated, "Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life. If I win the election for President, we are going to Make America Great Again." - Donald J. Trump

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What exactly are you up to? Maybe you are not paying attention, but I don't think that's it.

Are you voting for Clinton this November?

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Originally Posted by pkskyali

If you really had an argument, you would post a quote of Trump actually saying what you say he said. Not only that but the link you cite has a quote that says absolutely nothing about banning Muslim immigration.



What exactly are you up to? Maybe you are not paying attention, but I don't think that's it.

Are you voting for Clinton this November?

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If you had followed Trump as closely as I have over the last 12 months, you would know what he said. Furthermore, if you had followed me on ALIPAC over the last 10 years you'd know your comment about me voting for Hillary is absolutely ludicrous.

MW, you are wrong.

Donald Trump is expanding his Muslim ban, not rolling it back
By Jenna Johnson July 24

Donald Trump made clear this weekend that he has not rolled back his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, despite top allies insisting that he had.

In accepting the Republican nomination on Thursday night, Trump said the country "must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time it's proven that vetting mechanisms have been put in place." Trump made no mention of Muslims in the speech, leading many to conclude that Trump had formally changed his position — just as a number of his top allies, including his running mate, said he had.

During an interview this weekend with NBC's "Meet the Press," host Chuck Todd asked Trump whether his comment should be interpreted as a "slight rollback."

"I don't think so. I actually don't think it's a rollback. In fact, you could say it's an expansion," Trump said. "I'm looking now at territory. People were so upset when I used the word 'Muslim': 'Oh, you can't use the word "Muslim."' Remember this. And I'm okay with that, because I'm talking territory instead of Muslim."

Trump first proposed banning nearly all Muslims overseas from the country in early December, soon after a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif. Trump's original statement — which calls for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" — is still on his campaign website. This position continues to be one of Trump's most controversial and a key reason that some fellow Republicans do not want to help him with his campaign.

After he became the presumptive nominee, Trump made comments that seemed to indicate that he was willing to soften his position. In May, Trump said that the Muslim ban is "just a suggestion" and that he's open to other ideas. In June, after the attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Trump called for a temporary ban on "certain people coming from certain horrible — where you have tremendous terrorism in the world, you know what those places are." At the time, it appeared that Trump was expanding his ban to include more people, not limiting its scope, but his staff would not confirm where their boss stood.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...lling-it-back/

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Originally Posted by MW

If you had followed Trump as closely as I have over the last 12 months, you would know what he said. Furthermore, if you had followed me on ALIPAC over the last 10 years you'd know your comment about me voting for Hillary is absolutely ludicrous.

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But you can't seem to recall what he said. You can't seem to drag up a direct quote. Furthermore the only quote you do drag out doesn't say anything at all about restricting Muslim immigration.

Why do you constantly second guess Trump's claims and positions in his campaign? Do you think he has the luxury of looking like he doesn't mean what he says? What's the point? Who is running for president, him or you?