Fmr. AG Barr: Given the Dangers that Exist, Trump’s Immigration Order is Reasonable
After the Ninth Circuit decided to continue the hold on President Trump’s immigration order on February 9, Trump issued a statement that he would come out with a new order, which is expected to be announced this week.
Bill Barr, a former U.S. Attorney General who served under President George H. W. Bush, said Trump’s immigration order should distinguish between two groups of immigrants, aliens that already have legal status in the United States and those who don’t.
“I think what he [Trump] will do is clarify the order, so that these temporary pause in entry will apply to that latter class and he is not going to interfere with the lives of the people who have permanent resident alien status or who are here already on visas or on their way relying on visas,” Barr told the FOX Business Network’s Neil Cavuto.
Barr said the reason the Ninth Circuit was able to legally reject President Trump’s first immigration order was due to the administration’s failure to make this distinction crystal clear.
“The only way the Ninth Circuit got their claws into the first order, and I actually think the first order was lawful, but the way the Ninth Circuit got into it was to assume that it applied to people who already had legal status and were permanent residents. And they rejected the administration’s efforts to clarify it and walk back from that so no we’re going to assume that it does cover them and that was the legal basis for their decision.”
Despite the hysteria that broke out among the mainstream media following Trump’s initial order, Barr explained enhanced vetting will help bolster the country’s security.
“While the media likes calling it a ban, it is really a vetting order that lays the ground work for vetting these people from seven countries. And it is a temporary pause to get our vetting process into place. And this is eminently reasonable given the danger that exists from these countries,” Barr said.