If President Trump can’t ban the refugees, he can bomb them. (Sarcasm)
The horrific images of children gasping for breath and victims foaming at the mouth after the latest deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria moved President Trump to order a retaliatory missile strike.
But Democrats are now trying to use Mr. Trump’s decision to retaliate against the Syrian government’s gas attack on its own people to rally political opposition against his executive order temporarily barring refugees from the United States.
Several sitting lawmakers were joined in their calls by groups advocating on behalf of refugees, as well as by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost the presidential election to Mr. Trump.
“I hope this administration will move forward in a way that is both strategic and consistent with our values,” Mrs. Clinton said Friday, speaking at a luncheon in Texas. “And I also hope that they will recognize that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close America’s doors to them.”
The Trump administration is entrenched in a series of court battles over the president’s revised executive order on travel and refugees, which would temporarily ban travel to the U.S. by nationals of six majority Muslim countries — including Syria — and would temporarily halt all refugee resettlement. Enforcement of the order is currently paused by federal courts.
The president said he was greatly disturbed by the images coming out of Syria, but administration officials said there was no discussion of changing the refugee policy as deliberations over Thursday’s military action took place.
“No, that wasn’t discussed as any part of the deliberations,” Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster said Thursday when asked about the refugee policy.
Democratic lawmakers, many who have previously spoken out against the executive order, say it’s difficult to square the president’s concern for victims of the Syrian sarin gas attack with his policy seeking to limit refugee resettlement.
“If President Trump is, as he claims, motivated by humanitarian impulses and a concern for the suffering of Syrian civilians, then we should see a redoubling of humanitarian efforts, an increase in humanitarian assistance funding, and a lifting of the refugee ban. Cruise missiles alone are not a solution,” said Rep. Don Beyer, Virginia Democrat.