President Donald Trump could issue additional executive orders to include “Pakistan and others” to the list of Muslim-majority countries whose people are banned from emigrating to the United States, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus suggested during an interview.
Trump issued an executive order Friday banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Somalia.
“The reason we chose those seven countries was, those were the seven countries that both the Congress and the Obama administration identified as being the seven countries that were most identifiable with dangerous terrorism taking place in their country,” Priebus, told CBS News.
“Now, you can point to other countries that have similar problems, like Pakistan and others. Perhaps we need to take it further. But for now, immediate steps, pulling the Band-Aid off, is to do further vetting for people traveling in and out of those countries,” Priebus said in response to a question.
Under the present executive order, visitors from countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia are subject to extreme vetting.
“Perhaps other countries needed to be added to an executive order going forward,” Priebus said regarding expansion of Trump’s immigration action.
The US officials have said the countries included in the list had“already been codified and identified” as presenting a terrorist threat by the Obama White House and Congress, he said.
“This is all done for the protection of Americans,” Priebus said. “President Trump is not willing to get this wrong.”
Almost none of the terrorist attacks carried out in the United States, from the Sept. 11 attacks to the recent spate of so-called “lone wolf” strikes, have been carried out by citizens from the countries listed in Mr. Trump’s executive order.
The travel ban has been met with protests by Americans in several cities and critics say the order discrimiantes against Muslims.
However, President Trump Sunday said his executive order barring entry of visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries is not about religion but about keeping America safe.
“To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion – this is about terror and keeping our country safe,” he said in a statement.
