Greg Walden, Oregon’s lone Republican congressman, approves of the motive behind president Donald J. Trump’s executive order curtailing immigration and refugee programs, but criticized its rollout as less than stellar.
In an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive, Walden said he supports protecting the nation from foreign threats, including immigrants or refugees who would seek to do harm.
But Trump’s executive order — which drew widespread criticism locally, nationally and abroad — could have hit with a softer landing, Walden said.
“This, in my own opinion, wasn’t as well handled in terms of advance coordination with those who are supposed to administer it or Congress,” he said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Justice officials were initially unclear about how to carry out Trump’s order, issued Friday. Some immigrants from the seven Muslim-majority nations covered by Trump’s order, including green card holders and refugees who’d already been vetted, were detained at airports or turned away.
Walden said green card holders, who are lawful permanent residents, should not have been taken into custody.
Walden said he has “fairly high faith” in existing vetting processes for refugees admitted to U.S. soil. But he said it can still be strengthened.
Large, spontaneous protests denouncing the order ensued at the nation’s airports over the weekend. Hundreds rallied at Portland International Airport, including U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler. A counter-protestor was assaulted at the rally.
Walden said he wishes Oregon’s elected Democrats would have spoken out against the violence. He also criticized U.S. Sen Jeff Merkley’s vote against confirmation of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao as unproductive. All six of Oregon’s Democratic members of congress have openly derided Trump and his policies. That makes it difficult to secure federal favors for the state, Walden said.
“It makes my job harder when every day there’s another attack on the new administration,” he said. “I certainly didn’t do that when president Obama took office.”
Federal money is needed to backstop Oregon’s transportation and health care programs, and Walden said he has spoken with state leaders like Gov. Kate Brown and Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, about shoring-up resources.
Despite protests around the nation over Trump’s travel restrictions, no one was detained at Portland’s airport. The executive order, which partially fulfills a campaign Canlı Bahis to shut down Muslim travel into the country, temporarily bars new immigrants from seven majority-Muslim nations from entering the United States.
Walden defended the ban as necessary to preserve U.S. safety and said it does not discriminate against Muslims.
Democratic members of Oregon’s congressional delegation, have cast the executive order doing just that.
Some critics have said it won’t better protect Americans because people from nations included in the travel ban — Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen — have not been implicated in domestic terror plots.
To Walden, that’s nonsense. “That’s false,” he said, insisting that there have been domestic attacks tied to immigrants from the affected nations.
Research compiled by Politifact shows that there have been no deadly attacks by immigrants from the seven nations in the post-9/11 era. But, it found, three non-lethal attacks are tied to immigrants from Iran or Somalia.
Walden rejected notions that the executive order discriminates against Muslims.
“There have obviously been wild accusations by opponents that suddenly you’re shutting down everybody from a region or a religion,” he said. “We now know a lot of that isn’t true.”
Walden said he’s received information from intelligence briefings pointing to a need for greater vetting of potential emigres.
“If you’ve been in any of the briefings like I have, you know that there are some — specifically in the ISIS movement — that have made clear their intention to infiltrate refugee programs to get into countries like ours,” Walden said. “I think it’s very important to make sure that these vetting programs work effectively.”
“Let me just say that it is very, very difficult to vet people in some of these regions because there aren’t a lot of records in some cases,” he said. “You look at Syria, a war-torn country. It’s not like you can go to the local DMV and get records. This is a very serious, deadly matter we’re dealing with.”
Walden said he has taken note of demonstrations against the executive order, but wishes they would stay peaceful.
“People have every right to express their views and protest,” he said. “I do think it’s important for elected officials, however, to condemn those that turn protests into violence.”
In reference to the counter-protester assaulted at Portland’s demonstration, Walden said, “I’ve yet to understand why innocent travelers get punched in the face and knocked out because they have a different view.”
— Gordon R. Friedman
gfriedman@oregonian.com; 503-221-8209
@gordonrfriedman
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