The Trump administration’s announcement of a new travel ban Sunday evening garnered little reaction from lawmakers as most politicians were still responding to President Trump’s Twitter feud with the National Football League.
Trump’s first executive order that mandated a travel ban against seven Middle Eastern and North African countries in January received significant pushback at the time. His revised order – released in March – was also met with criticism for only removing one country from the list.
But Sunday night, as the NFL played its second week of the season, lawmakers only took to social media to side with Trump or the kneeling players of the NFL. Only a handful of the more than 500 members of Congress were talking about the administration’s new travel restrictions.
“.@realDonaldTrump continues his work to keep Americans safe,” tweeted Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., praised the ban on Venezuelan government officials.
“It is correct q # Trump denies visas to officers and family d # SEBIN and Ministry of Popular Power for Internatl Relations, Justice, and Peace,” Ros-Lehtinen tweeted in Spanish. “Officials of the corrupt regime d # Maduro and their families can no longer come to Disney or make purchases in # USA . Support for the people d # Venezuela.”
“I fully support President Trump’s executive order, which recognizes new, evolving threats our nation faces from North Korea and Chad, and I applaud the administration’s commitment to prioritizing American security interests. Reviewing and strengthening our vetting procedures is not only common sense during the heightened threat level our global community faces, it’s necessary to breaking down terrorist pathways and preventing enemies from reaching our shore,” Rep. Dan Donovan, R-N.Y., and a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement.
The Muslim Advocates organization’s legal director, Johnathan Smith, said the Trump administration made “cosmetic adjustments to the Muslim ban in hopes that it will pass the barest possible definition of anything else.”
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing the administration over the initial ban, said the addition of North Korea and Venezuela are irrelevant.
“Six of President Trump’s targeted countries are Muslim. The fact that Trump has added North Korea — with few visitors to the U.S. — and a few government officials from Venezuela doesn’t obfuscate the real fact that the administration’s order is still a Muslim ban. President Trump’s original sin of targeting Muslims cannot be cured by throwing other countries onto his enemies list,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero.
Trump added Chad, Venezuela, and North Korea to the total list of eight countries whose citizens may not travel to the U.S., except for Venezuela, where only government officials were banned.
The White House added the affected countries still have a way to get off the list.
“The restrictions being imposed on these eight countries are conditional and may be lifted as they work with the United States Government to ensure the safety of Americans,” a White House statement stated. “We look forward to all countries meeting the new requirements for cooperation with the United States as we continue to take steps necessary to protect our national security.” The March ban went into action in June and expired Sunday. The new ban will commence Oct. 18.
