U. S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, vowed Monday to support any legislative efforts to work against President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on immigration, adding that she hopes Republicans critical of the action will join Democrats in fighting against it.
During a Monday visit to Detroit, Stabenow said she believes the executive order will hurt Michigan families and business interests in addition to deepening divisions in the country.
“It really just tears me up that people are so afraid and worried – it’s such chaos in our country,” Stabenow said. “It doesn’t make any sense, and it is going to make us less safe. ”
Acknowledging no legislation can block an executive order from the president outright, Stabenow said Democrats are looking to craft “hopefully bipartisan” bills to take a more thoughtful approach to issues surrounding immigration.
Stabenow said she’s hopeful some Republican senators who have expressed concern over the matter – including Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S. C. – are willing to work with Democrats on the issue.
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Trump’s executive order temporarily freezes travel to the United States for refugees and visa holders from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The order won’t impact diplomats, government officials or employees of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but there have been reports of refugees headed to the United States being turned around, students blocked from flying to the United States to attend college and an Iraqi interpreter who spent a decade working with the U. S. Army stopped from entering the country.
A federal judge on Saturday night enacted an emergency stay ordering the release and halt of deportation for any travelers no longer allowed in the United States under the changes ordered by Trump.
Hundreds turn out at Grand Rapids airport to protest Trump’s immigration order
In statements posted to social media since signing the order, Trump has defended the policy as similar to what former President Barack Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months, and said it is not about religion – “this is about terror and keeping our country safe. ”
On Monday morning, Trump tweeted that Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly has told him “all is going well with very few problems. ”
Backlash erupted almost immediately after the order was signed, with protests taking place in airports throughout the country.
On Sunday, protesters gathered at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids and at several smaller protests throughout the state.
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Later Monday, U. S. House and Senate Democrats are hosting a 6 p.m. press conference in Washington D. C. featuring Muslim refugees and immigrants to call on Trump to reverse the executive order.
