WASHINGTON, D.C., — Today, President Donald Trump signed an executive order which is essentially a version 2.0 of the anti-Muslim travel ban.
The new order signed Monday with little fanfare is a backdown of monumental proportions, reports The Huffington Post. The only travelers banned are those without visas from six nations ― Iraq was scratched from the list. And with or without this order, those without visas were already barred from traveling to the U.S.
The new order represents a major political defeat for the Trump administration, which decided to shove aside the dozens of lawsuits that were filed after the first order was signed and just sign a new order. Top Trump officials significantly watered down their language this time around. Gone were the overt mentions of “extreme vetting” and rooting out “radical Islamic terrorism.”
Rea Carey, executive director, National LGBTQ Task Force issued the following statement about the new order, “Version 2.0 of the Trump anti-Muslim executive order is still based entirely on religious hatred and thinly-veiled racism. He is still targeting specific countries; he is telegraphing his despicable anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-refugee and anti-people of color views. This version is still completely against core American values such as freedom of, and from, religion; it still diminishes our stature as a global partner for humanitarianism by denying vulnerable refugee families some basic respite — solely on the basis of their faith. With this undiminished and appalling display of anti-Muslim sentiment, Trump dehumanizes an entire faith and millions of people in the process, both abroad and here in the United States. Let there be no doubt about the chilling impact of this revised order — it will be less safe for Black and Brown people to travel. We call upon our members to join us in intensifying our stand for justice and freedom as we resist this continued and massive attack on the core foundation of American freedoms.”
