In a speech given by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he spoke out about his support for President Donald Trump’s second travel ban, this time banning only six Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States as opposed to seven, and continuing to honour valid current visas which were going to be invalidated by the first ban, just hours after Trump signed the executive order to put the ban into effect as of 16 March. This new ban will be harder for the federal courts to block, but not impossible, so there is still hope.
Tillerson made no mention of Islam, instead focusing on ‘protecting the nation’
While this ban is widely being branded a Muslim ban, and let’s face it, rightly so, Tillerson did not mention the Religion once. He instead focused his speech on how the goal of the ban is “protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States,” claiming that this is “a vital measure” in the reinforcement of America’s national security. He said that protecting Americans from terrorism is Trump’s “solemn duty” as President, and that he is simply “exercising his rightful authority to keep our people safe.”
Using the old Republican trick of fear as a weapon, Tillerson warned that “threats to our security continue to evolve and change,” and that “common sense dictates” that this ban should be put in place.
As a way of covering his tracks in case this ban leads to more ISIS attacks (because this is exactly the kind of thing that provokes ISIS attacks), Tillerson also warned that “no system can be made completely infallible,” including this one, apparently.
