Penna Dexter

As the country implements President Trump’s executive order that limits travel to the U.S. from seven countries plagued by jihadi violence, and places a temporary hold on any refugee travel here, some people are willing to absorb the inconvenience in favor of safety and national security. Others are asking: Where’s the compassion, especially for refugees from war zones. Some critics of the ban wonder why these particular countries? James Carafano, national security expert at the Heritage Foundation worked on the pre-inauguration presidential teams on both foreign policy and national security. He can’t share details, but he believes the motivation for this executive order is that, as ISIS gets squeezed out of the territory it previously captured in the Middle East, the defeated fighters, numbering in the tens of thousands, will have to go somewhere. Dr. Carafano writes: “Every nation, not just the U.S., believes they are most likely to flow to the countries cited in the order. That fact, and only that fact, is why those countries are included on the list.” Then, he says “foreign fighters could well try to flow to the West, principally by using visas or posing as refugees.” In fact, ISIS has repeatedly told us that they are intentionally hiding jihadist fighters among the refugees. CIA Director John Brennan stated last summer that he believed ISIS is “exploring a variety of means for infiltrating operatives into the West, including refugee flows, smuggling routes and legitimate methods of travel.” Absent comprehensive screening and vetting, we’d have people in our country who have a high likelihood of attempting to carry out terrorist acts. We have already seen this in Western Europe. To take a pause, review the application processes, and take measures that would increase the likelihood of weeding out the bad actors is wise and perfectly legal. Andrew McCarthy led the 1995 terrorism prosecution against twelve terrorists who were convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and of planning a series of attacks against New York City landmarks. He also contributed to the prosecutions of terrorists who bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Mr. McCarthy explained in National Review that federal immigration law authorizes this type of temporary ban on the entry of particular classes of aliens for reasons of national security. He pointed his readers to Section 1182(f) which states: “Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or non-immigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.” Responding to his critics, President Trump tweeted, “There is nothing nice about searching for terrorists before they enter our country.” But it’s a wise idea.