What Tennessee lawmakers say about Trump's immigration orders
In his first week as president, Donald Trump signed several executive orders that stopped refugees, and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, from entering the United States.
It was met with controversy and chaos for travelers, as well as a ruling one day later from a federal judge in New York City that stalled implementation of some pieces of the new administration's mandates. Read more: Immigration ban fallout, what you need to know
Here's what some Tennessee lawmakers had to say. (Some statements were edited for length; to read full statements click on each individual's name.)
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn:
President Trump’s decision to temporarily suspend refugee admissions is a responsible approach, as I filed legislation last Congress calling for the same. Our intelligence and security agencies must ascertain the scope of the Islamic terror threat in order to develop proper refugee vetting protocols — if possible. The president’s executive order is a security test, not a religious one.
U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn:
"We all share a desire to protect the American people, but this executive order has been poorly implemented, especially with respect to green card holders," said Corker. "The administration should immediately make appropriate revisions, and it is my hope that following a thorough review and implementation of security enhancements that many of these programs will be improved and reinstated."
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn:
"This vetting proposal itself needed more vetting. More scrutiny of those traveling from war-torn countries to the United States is wise. But this broad and confusing order seems to ban legal, permanent residents with ‘green cards,’ and might turn away Iraqis, for example, who were translators and helped save lives of Americans troops and who could be killed if they stay in Iraq. And while not explicitly a religious test, it comes close to one which is inconsistent with our American character.
Rep. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis:
Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville:
Karl Dean, former Nashville mayor and possible Democratic candidate for governor:
"We need to protect our safety but also honor tradition of being welcoming & a refuge for those in danger. Religious (discrimination) is wrong"
"It doesn't matter how you got here, it doesn't matter when you got here. It matters that you are here and that you are part of our great country. And the fact of the matter is, America has so many tools at our disposal. We use the tools of war all the time. We need to use the tools of peace.
"The tools of peace that bring our refugees and immigrants to us and make them welcome and bring them home."
"Memphis is proud to be a welcoming city that values diversity and treats every single person equally -- no matter what."
Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero:
"As a nation, every time we have let fear of newcomers drive our politics and our policies, we have made terrible mistakes that have betrayed the spirit and the promise of our founding. We do not set national immigration policy at the city level, but we will work within the law to ensure that Knoxville remains a welcoming place for everyone."
Tennessee HouseRep. Mike Stewart, chair of House Democratic Caucus
President Trump needs to re-affirm its commitment to truth and the rule of law.
After the past week, the Trump Administration has left us with reason to question its commitment to the bedrock principles underlying our democracy – truth and the rule of law.
Ambassador Andrew Young had it right when he observed “[t]here can be no democracy without truth.” If leaders are not truthful, the citizens who hold the power cannot make reasoned decisions. Yet last week we saw President Trump reassert the claim that “millions” of immigrants voted fraudulently in the recent Presidential election. There is no evidence for this claim – by any standard, it is simply untrue.
When reporters reasonably demanded new support for the President’s fraud allegations, they received nothing but thinly veiled threats and the abrupt announcement of a so-called investigation. But the proposed voter fraud “investigation” is akin to an investigation to determine whether the world is flat – an exercise that is not merely meaningless but designed to call into question our understanding of reality. Such fundamental dishonesty reflects a rejection of our democratic system of government in that it demands that official actions be simply accepted without reasoned debate and popular input.
Friday’s immigration ban similarly reflects contempt for our democratic norms. According to legal experts – and now a number of judges – much in the order is simply illegal. Yet the Administration has failed to put forward a coherent legal justification for the ban, and there are reports that at some airports, customs officials are continuing to enforce portions of the ban that federal courts have officially halted.
President Trump needs to bring this chaos to an end. He needs to commit his administration to be fundamentally honest with the people of this nation and to adhere to our system of laws. As President, he is certainly entitled to propose significant changes to those laws, within the limits imposed by the Constitution, and to make his case to the people for why those changes are needed. But he is not free to simply ignore the laws on the books and not free to sidestep our Constitutional framework by making public claims that bear no relation to reality.