What Conservatives Get Wrong About Trump's Immigration Order
Late Sunday, National Review published an editorial on Donald Trump’s executive order titled “Trump’s Order on Refugees: Mostly Right on Substance, Wrong on Rollout.”
Echoing arguments circulating widely on the center right, it notes that capping refugees at 50,000 per year is similar to the policy that prevailed under George W. Bush and for Barack Obama’s first term; that the directive to prioritize religious minority refugees in affected countries makes sense, given the existential threat they face from ISIS; and that there is precedent for Trump’s order. “In 2011, the Obama administration halted refugee-processing from Iraq for six months in order to do exactly what the Trump administration is doing now: ensure that terrorists were not exploiting the program to enter the country,” the editorial states, adding dismissively that “no one rushed to JFK International to protest.”
In another slam at Trump critics, the editorial declares that “the instant backlash, which has culminated in thousands of protesters creating chaos at the nation’s airports, is the result more of knee-jerk emotion than a sober assessment of Trump’s policy.” As the Islamic State continues its reign of terror, “it should be a matter of common sense that the U.S. needs to evaluate and strengthen its vetting,” the piece argues,
