Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday slammed President Donald Trump‘s new travel ban as “a racist and anti-Islamic attempt to divide” America that will make the country less safe.
Trump signed a new and revised executive order on immigration on Monday, after the original travel ban was challenged in federal courts.
This isn’t about keeping America safe. Let’s call it what it is. This ban is a racist and anti-Islamic attempt to divide us up. https://t.co/nDrGdOUNUs
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 6, 2017
The Vermont senator, who has been a vocal critic of Trump and his policies, took to Twitter to voice his disgust as part of a longer thread accusing the president of lies.
The United States will not be respected or taken seriously around the world if @realDonaldTrump continues to shamelessly lie.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 6, 2017
The revised immigration order implements a renewed 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. for people from six Muslim-majority nations including Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. The country’s refugee program is due to be frozen for 120 days, with the order set to go into effect on March 16.
Although subject to the first ban, Iraqi citizens are now free to apply for U.S. visas once again after their country was dropped from the list of targeted nations. Speaking on Monday Secretary of State Rex Tillerson noted Iraq as an important ally in the fight against terrorism, particularly the so-called Islamic State.
“As threats to our security continue to evolve and change, common sense dictates that we continually reevaluate and reassess the systems we rely upon to protect our country,” Tillerson told reporters at a press conference, to assure that the strategy is about keeping Americans safe.
Sanders, however, fears that the travel ban may incite terrorism and accused President Trump of handing “ideological ammunition to terrorists.”
Trump’s Muslim ban isn’t about keeping us safe. A president intent on keeping us safe wouldn’t give ideological ammunition to terrorists.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 6, 2017
“A president who respected our traditions of religious freedom would not have resorted to hateful, anti-Islamic rhetoric to justify a ban on travel from six mostly Muslim countries,” the veteran politician followed in a formal statement posted on his website.
