Something as emotional and personal as immigration has exploded into a hysteria-filled argument within our media and across the national landscape. Our media certainly has failed it’s role in adequately vetting the stories and facts around this order. It’s time for a little truth about the controversial executive order about immigration signed by President Trump a few days prior.

The executive order does not reference a single country other than Syria. Did that surprise you? This executive order does not create any new law in this regard, it simply applies the executive order to countries identified by the Obama Administration. These countries are not explicitly defined but can be broadly interpreted to the following (2): Iraq or Syria, Countries that have supported state-sponsored terrorism, Countries deemed ‘areas of concern’ by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

The initial order applied to 7 countries reported in the news (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia). These are all countries without functioning governments or governments that have been highly compromised due to ongoing conflict or unrest. This seems like a rational list.

Claims that the executive order skips countries with Trump business ties is true, but it’s correlation, not causality. These countries, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, and U.A.E. have been floated in the media as a potential conflict of interest however it is much more likely that they were not targeted because they all have functioning governments that cooperate with our intelligence and border protection teams.

This is not permanent, it only lasts 90 days. That’s right, this is hardly a ‘ban’ as it is referred to in the press and also, unfortunately, colloquially by President Trump himself during the campaign. It is simply a pause in visa requests and immigration until certain vetting procedures are put in place or improved over existing procedures (3). It has been widely acknowledged by key National Security leaders during past administrations that our vetting procedures needed significant improvements (4)

Greencard holders and Iraqi cooperators were not explicitly called out in this EO causing confusion for 3 days. This has been a source of much outrage in the media as stories about an Iraqi translator being detained and small children get views quickly. However, this is largely overblown and the executive order specifically grants security personnel to treat these individuals on a case-by-case basis (5) and should have been followed. In addition, most of these individuals were detained for several hours which is hardly unusual for an international traveler coming the Middle East.

In addition, later clarifications were made that specifically sharpened the policy above for greencard holders as well as Iraqi translators.

It’s important in these hysteria-filled times, that an objective eye and reading of important orders such as this are looked at rationally and to understand both the human as well as the legal necessities of such an order. While people may disagree with some of the more emotional aspects of preventing individuals temporarily from certain countries, it is fully within the jurisdiction and authority given to the POTUS from our Constitution.