President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily suspending entry of refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries into the US, would make America less safe and result in "radicalisation" of youth, a top Democratic Senator alleged today.
"We all want America to be safer. I can tell you that his executive order, if implemented, will make us less safe," Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, told Fox News in an interview.
"It's not just my views. I've talked to leaders from around the world who tell us that it will be used as a recruitment for terrorist organisations that will put Americans at greater risk traveling abroad. That it adds to self-radicalisation," he said.
"Our concern about terrorism is real. But look at the numbers of self-radicalisation are much higher than people coming into our country. So, we really need to have a smart policy. And we already have extreme vetting for refugees, particularly," Cardin said in response to a question.
The 650,000 Syrian refugees in the US are integrated into the country and they are not the security threats, he said.
"At the security threat is who could be recruited, how the Palestinians are recruited towards terrorism," he added.
"ISIS is on the run, but if we give them a message, look, we are losing territory, the caliphate is shrinking, we are making progress. So, there hope for their future is to recruit. And what America does when its immigration policy gives them a recruiting message," Cardin said.
The Senator said his party wants to keep Americans safe and wants to do everything possible to do that.
"There are risk factors. There's risk factors that this executive order could be used as a recruitment for someone here or self-radicalisation, and that person may in fact go out and cause people to be harmed. If you look at what we've seen as far as the terrorist threats in America, it's not the refugees. It's not the people that are coming in through our regular process," he said.
"There had not been an unusual high threat to America. Do we want to do better where we can? Absolutely," he added.
However, Republican Senator from Arizona Jeff Flake asserted that the executive orders are constitutional and make the country safe.
"I do think that it is constitutional. It is not a Muslim ban," he told CBS News in an interview.
"It is focused on countries, rather than religion or individuals. Having said that, I have been clear that I don't think that it is a good idea. I think that the message that it sends to our allies abroad and the countries that we need to work with is not a good one," he added.
"I do think it is constitutional. And I hope that we will pause and reflect and see where we need to go from here," Cardin said.
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