Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced today that Alabama joined 15 other states in supporting President Trump’s temporary travel ban. The President’s widely reported executive order temporarily prevents foreign nationals from six countries from entering the United States because those countries pose an imminent risk to its security. Those six countries are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—the world’s leaders in terrorism.
Lower courts have halted Trump’s efforts, so last week his administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider lifting the injunctions, allowing his vetting policy to resume. His updated order—issued in March after the first order was turned back by the courts—imposes a 90-day hold on admitting anyone from the six terrorist-centric countries listed above, and a 120-day pause on the admission of refugees.
In a strong show of support for the President’s action, Attorney General Marshall joined the other key states in the filing amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting Trump’s executive order. As Marshall stated:
Our brief underscores that President Trump has the legal authority to issue his executive order restricting foreign national travel to America because such action is within the power of the president to protect the security of this country. It is inconceivable that foreign nationals living abroad should be given rights equal to United States citizens and therefore cannot be prevented from entering this country if the federal government views them a security risk. It is the government’s first responsibility to ensure the safety of our citizens. The previous court rulings against the Trump administration’s travel ban are both legally flawed and undermine the safety of all Americans.
Central to this debate is who the order restricts. Some claim it’s a ban on Muslims that discriminates against their religion, but the executive order specifies countries, not religions. As the amicus brief submitted by Mr. Marshall and his counterparts states:
The Executive Order classifies aliens by nationality — not religion. The Order’s temporary pause in entry by nationals from six countries and in the refugee pro- gram neither mentions any religion nor depends on whether affected aliens are Muslim,” the states said. “The Executive Order therefore is emphatically not a ‘Muslim ban.”
A PDF of the 40-page brief can be downloaded here on Attorney General Marshall’s website.
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