March 6, 2017

Today, President Trump signed a revised Executive Order on refugees. This new order corrects many deficiencies of the first by removing a religious preference, removing the indefinite bar on Syrian refugees, and removing Iraq from the list of countries banned from U.S. travel for 90 days.

While these changes to the original order represent a step in the right direction, the overall effect of this order still targets the most vulnerable refugees and U.S. allies. The order continues to place a 120-day moratorium on refugees from all nations, shutting out tens of thousands of desperate women, children, and families seeking refuge. After the moratorium on resettlement, it would slash by more than half the total number of refugees eligible to come to the United States.

Despite Iraq being removed from the new order’s list of countries affected by a 90-day ban, the overall halt to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program will affect over 50,000 Iraqi allies who served with the U.S. Military, U.S. government, and other U.S. organizations who are currently waiting in that program. Due to this halt, the robust security screening measures being performed on these individuals may expire, requiring that some go through these measures again, adding many more months to their processing. Many simply do not have that time to lose, especially the allies that are now targeted for standing alongside our country during wartime.

The new order also retains its focus on six Muslim-majority nations, which again indicates a troubling pattern of anti-Muslim sentiment in U.S. policy. Such actions only reinforce the narrative of our enemies, like ISIS and other extremists, who would have the world believe that the United States is at war with Islam. As veterans, we took an oath to defend dignity and freedoms of all people, regardless of their national origin or faith.

Veterans for American Ideals believes that this revised executive order still seriously weakens U.S. national security, undermines our global leadership, and markedly separates us from the ideals that we strive to live up to as a nation. As a diverse group of veterans holding many differing political views, we believe that America is strongest when our policies and actions reflect our ideals.

We believe that this revised Executive Order does not meet that standard, and we will strive to work with the president, lawmakers, and all Americans for policies that uphold both our national security and moral leadership in the world.