Trump's refugee order not same as Obama's in 2011
In defending his executive order banning immigration and travel from certain countries, which has touched off widespread anger and confusion, President Trump compared the order to action taken by the Obama administration in 2011.
“My policy is similar to what President Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months,” Trump claimed.
Obama administration officials and fact checkers say the claim is wrong.
Trump’s order banned visitors from seven Middle Eastern countries — Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan and Syria — from coming to the United States for 90 days. The executive order signed Friday also suspended for 120 days all refugees coming to the United States.
In 2011, the State Department significantly slowed the number of visas it issued to Iraqis in order to review its vetting process. The concern stemmed from the arrests of two Iraqi refugees on terrorism charges in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 2011. One of the men was linked through fingerprints to an improvised explosive attack in Bayji, Iraq.
The arrests triggered concerns in the administration and on Capitol Hill and led to a massive review of Iraqi refugees already admitted to the country and more extensive vetting of those applying to immigrate to the United States. The action only applied to refugees from Iraq.
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Obama's office released a statement Monday that, while not directly critical of President Trump, did applaud those protesting a travel ban on visitors from seven Muslim countries.
"President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. In his final official speech as President, he spoke about the important role of citizen and how all Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy — not just during an election but every day," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement.
"With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve heard before, the President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion," Lewis added.
Jon Finer, an Obama administration official, said the review slowed the pace of Iraqis coming into the United States, but never completely halted it.
The “flow of Iraqi refugees slowed significantly during the Obama administration’s review,” Finer wrote in an article for Foreign Policy magazine’s website, but “there was no outright ban.”
But in 2012, the flow of refugees from Iraqi had returned to close to pre-2011 numbers.
Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post’s fact checker, gave the Trump claim “three Pinocchios,” indicating a “significant factual error.”
He cited several differences between the Obama administration action and Trump’s recent executive order:
Obama’s action was in response to a specific threat, it was not a complete halt of refugees from Iraq and it did not apply to all visitors from Iraq entering the United States, he said.