White House spokesperson Sean Spicer had terse words for the press corps over the use of the term “ban” or “Muslim ban” to describe the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Friday that temporarily suspended the entry of travelers and refugees coming from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Yet, seemingly some Christians and Jews from the same seven countries are or will be exempt from the executive order, according to a statement made by Trump and a travel memo posted to the website of the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv.
Spicer took umbrage over the journalists describing the policy in language both he and Trump had used to define the order as recently as the day before. “I think the president talked about extreme vetting and the need to keep America safe, and he made clear this is not a Muslim ban,” Spicer said Tuesday, a day after telling George Washington University students in a speech on Monday that it is a “ban.”
If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the “bad” would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad “dudes” out there!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017
The aim of the executive order, as Trump promoted the idea during his campaign, was a not a “ban” but a “Muslim ban,” with the operative word being “Muslim.” And, seemingly this emphasis has been expressed in some way to other governmental departments. Note exhibit A, from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv’s website, an alert posted on Tuesday stating that Israeli citizens traveling from countries on the blacklist are exempt from the executive order and can travel freely.
“Travelers with an existing valid visa in their Israeli passport may travel to the United States, even if they are also a national of or born in one of the seven restricted countries (Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). Embassy Tel Aviv will continue to process visa applications and issue visas to eligible visa applicants who apply with an Israeli passport, even if born in, or a dual national of, one of the seven restricted countries. Final authorization to enter the United States is always determined at the port of entry.”
Israel is home to thousands of Jews who immigrated from across of the Middle East, of whom many hold or once held passports issued from countries identified by the White House as currently banned for entry. As recently as 2016, 19 Yemenite Jews were flown to Israel for resettlement in a covert mission (they brought with them a religious scroll estimated to be 500 years old).
Moreover, on Friday (exhibit B) the president told the Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody that it would be a “priority” to allow middle eastern Christians to enter the U.S., including those who hail from countries banned for travelers by the executive order.
“They’ve [Christians have] been horribly treated. Do you know if you were a Christian in Syria it was impossible, at least very tough to get into the United States? If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible and the reason that was so unfair, everybody was persecuted in all fairness, but they were chopping off the heads of everybody but more so the Christians. And I thought it was very, very unfair.”
However, at least one Syrian Christian family was deported from the U.S. over the weekend, after landing in Philadelphia with green cards in hand.
Overnight Saturday, the White House said 109 were detained at airports, of whom some were U.S. citizens noted the American Civil Liberties Union after filing a stays of deportation that same night.
The executive order temporarily prohibits the entry of persons who hold valid visas to the U.S. for 90 days if they are from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and 120 days for refugees. Although, the least bothered by the word “ban,” seems to be Trump who tweeted earlier Wednesday the labels were inconsequential.
Everybody is arguing whether or not it is a BAN. Call it what you want, it is about keeping bad people (with bad intentions) out of country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2017
The embassy statement does not say anything about anyone “traveling from countries on the blacklist”. It’s about Israeli passport holders who were “born in, or a dual national of, one of the seven restricted countries.”
But more to the point, there is no special exception being made for Israelis. The website of the U.S. embassy in London says the same thing as the one in Tel Aviv:
Not to mention the terrorists already in the country. Dylann Roof didn’t need a visa.