Toomey (Finally) Speaks Up In Support of Trump’s Immigration Ban

While thousands of protestors – and a few politicians – convened in Philadelphia this weekend to protest President Donald Trump‘s recent executive order on immigration, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey reportedly relaxed at a luxury resort in Palm Springs, California, surrounded by his biggest donors. 

On Saturday, a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s order, which forbids Syrian refugees from entering the country, suspends all other refugee admission for 120 days and denies entry to civilians from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days – even if those citizens have visas.

During an eventful weekend of rage, desperation and confusion, many politicians in Pennsylvania (both democrats and Republicans) quickly denounced the executive order, calling it a thinly-veiled ban on Muslim migrants. A ban based on religion is an idea that Toomey himself once criticized, though Trump and other Republicans claim the order is not a “Muslim ban,” despite reports that suggest otherwise.

Now that he’s returned from his excursion to California, Toomey has weighed in in support of the order. In a statement issued today, Toomey says he supports “the administration’s decision to increase vetting and temporarily suspend the admission of certain individuals from states that sponsor or provide safe havens to terrorists, or are too weak to prosecute terrorists within their borders.”

“Terrorists have successfully infiltrated refugee populations entering Europe and gone on to commit heinous acts of barbarity,” he wrote. “I have long been concerned about our ability to distinguish between predominantly peaceful and innocent refugees, and the likely rare, but lethal, terrorists in the midst of those refugees coming from terror havens and lawless lands.”

Toomey also wrote that the “initial executive order,” which limited travel even for citizens who were granted green cards, was “flawed – it was too broad and poorly explained.” He ended the statement by saying that he looks forward “to learning more about how the administration intends to enforce this executive order, to determine whether it indeed strikes the appropriate balance between defending our nation and maintaining our ability to provide a safe haven for persecuted individuals.”

Toomey’s full statement is available on his website.

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