New Trump immigration order condemned by 134 foreign policy experts

A letter signed by 134 members of the foreign policy establishment serves up a harsh critique of President Trump's new executive order pertaining to immigration and refugee admissions, The New York Times reported Saturday. Bipartisan signatories include former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and John Kerry; neoconservative Max Boot, a prominent advocate of the Iraq war; and Obama administration alumni like Samantha Power, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Susan Rice, former national security adviser.

The revised order "suffers from the same core substantive defects as the previous version," the letter says, and, because it targets six majority-Muslim nations, "will send a message that reinforces the propaganda of [the Islamic State] and other extremist groups, that falsely claim the United States is at war with Islam."

"The revised executive order is damaging to the strategic and national security interests of the United States," the letter concludes, urging that any future "vetting enhancements [be] necessary, non-discriminatory, and otherwise consistent with the U.S. Constitution," by not targeting any nations or religions. Read the full letter here (PDF).

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