Immigrant, refugee and civil rights groups in Milwaukee condemn Trump's order
A coalition of Milwaukee-area Muslim, immigrant, refugee, interfaith and civil rights organizations expressed outrage Monday at a presidential executive order temporarily banning immigrants from seven predominately Muslim countries.
"Immigrants and refugees are some of our very best citizens, they are contributing members of society and they are a living testimony to our great country," said Janan Najeeb, who leads the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition and local Islamic Resource Center, where a news conference took place Monday morning.
She was joined by Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, local Democratic state lawmakers and representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis). Representatives from the ACLU of Wisconsin, Voces de la Frontera, Jewish Voice for Peace also condemned the order as "unAmerican" and "unconstitutional."
President Trump signed the order Friday and chaotic scenes played out at airports across the country this weekend, as authorities, travelers and lawyers struggled to understand how the order is being implemented. Three federal courts — in New York, Virginia and Boston — have issued rulings since Saturday night to protect people who were in transit to the U.S. when the order went into effect and got caught in legal limbo.
The executive order affects people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and originally was interpreted as including those foreign nationals who have green cards or visas allowing them to live in the U.S.
On Sunday night, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said that he had deemed "the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest," which still leaves refugees and people entering the country on temporary visas, such as for business and tourism, barred from entering the country.
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The order also bans the entry of all Syrians indefinitely. The immigration restrictions will stay in effect for at least 90 days, and Trump said they are designed to prevent violent Islamic extremists from entering the U.S.
Refugee experience
On Monday, two recently arrived Syrian refugees said they were thankful to be in Milwaukee and urged the United States to continue accepting refugees from their war-torn country.
"Refugees fear for their life every single day," said Mafur Aldaye, who spoke in Arabic and whose words were translated by Najeeb, the leader of the local Muslim Women's Coalition.
"What people don't realize is that every day when a father actually leaves the house to go and bring food or water or work, it becomes like a holiday when he comes back home to his family because he actually made it back home alive," he said.
His cousin, Smaher Aldaye, also spoke through a translator and described the difficult process of leaving Syria for a refugee camp in Jordon before coming to the U.S.
"Refugees that come here are not coming here to commit acts of terrorism, they are not coming here because they want to change the way of life, they're coming here because they want also security," she said. "They want to live like normal human beings."
The indefinite ban on Syrian refugees will mean families remain separated without hope of reunification, said Najeeb, whose husband is a Syrian-born Milwaukee physician.
Her sister-in-law, a widow, and her two children remain in Syria where bombardments continue, she said.
"It's heart-wrenching because you want to be able to protect them and you want to be able to bring them here," Najeeb said. "Now everything is up in the air. Nobody knows what this means and what's going to happen."
Najeeb said many families, particularly those from Syria who are here under the Temporary Protected Status, will live in fear of losing their jobs and deportation to places where they could face death.
Reaction to order
The executive order sparked protests, including here in Milwaukee where about 100 people gathered Saturday outside the Federal Courthouse.
At a Sunday town hall meeting, U.S. Rep Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) defended Trump's order, saying it is not about religion but about national security.
Sensenbrenner also said he misspoke at another, earlier meeting and said he does not believe it is right "to ban green card holders from entering the United States absent evidence of a threat, regardless of where they are from."
"This is a temporary ban so the government can ensure we have sufficient screening policies in place. While the majority of people seeking to enter the United States are peaceful, it only takes one individual to wreak havoc," Sensenbrenner said.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) also defended the order.
“Our number one responsibility is to protect the homeland, " Ryan said in a statement issued Friday. "We are a compassionate nation, and I support the refugee resettlement program, but it’s time to reevaluate and strengthen the visa vetting process."
Other Republicans also praised Trump for his actions, saying the vetting system needed to be overhauled, but criticized the way it was carried out.
"(The administration) failed to provide clear guidance on the policy which caused substantial confusion at the ports of entry," Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) said. "Inadequate review and poor implementation of this executive action threatens to undermine otherwise sound policy."
Alan Gomez of USA TODAY contributed to this report.