U.N. secretary general: Trump travel ban 'should be removed sooner rather than later'

The secretary general of the United Nations on Wednesday joined other leaders in rebuking President Donald Trump’s controversial travel and refugee ban, telling reporters that “these measures should be removed sooner rather than later.”

“This is not the way to best protect the U.S. or any other country in relation to the serious concerns that exist about possible terrorist infiltration," António Guterres said, according to Reuters. "I don't think this is the effective way to do so. I think that these measures should be removed sooner rather than later.”


Trump’s executive order, signed last Friday, prohibits people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for several months and also temporarily suspends the United States’ refugee settlement program, and bars refugees from Syria indefinitely. It prompted protests across the country last weekend and its rollout caused widespread confusion at airports.

Democrats have almost universally condemned it, with some attorneys general and advocacy groups filing or planning legal challenges on the grounds that it is effectively a backdoor ban on Muslims. Trump denies that the executive order is a Muslim ban and argues that it’s necessary to prevent terrorists from coming into the country.

While House Speaker Paul Ryan defended the order in the face of the criticism, other Republicans, such as Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, have come out against it.

