Mr. President, Mr. Trump's poorly drawn and implemented
Executive order blocking refugees from the United States sacrifices
fundamental American values and does not make us safer. For the first time in memory, the order imposes a ban on all refugees
entering our country, many of whom are fleeing war or who risk
persecution for their religious or political beliefs. The order affects
many thousands of children, women, and men whom our government has
vetted for years and cleared for rescue. President Trump's action--taken in the first days of his new
administration, for political reasons, without regard for real world
consequences and without the expertise of our national security
professionals or even some of those appointed by the President
himself--represents a rare, but shameful, departure from a
constitutional heritage that has made America strong and a beacon to
oppressed people throughout the world. For generations, immigrants and refugees have come to our country to
flee religious persecution and to seek a better life. Indeed, these are
the very people who founded our original colonies. Although, as now, we
have occasionally failed to live up to our ideals, over generations the
United States has accepted millions of refugees from around the world. My own family is part of this story, as so many people's families in
this Chamber are. My mom was born in Poland in 1938 while Nazi tanks
massed at the border.
Keywords matched
immigrants refugees