McCain, Graham: Trump order 'may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security'

Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) released a joint statement on Sunday criticizing President Trump's executive order on immigration, saying that by banning refugees from majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States, a signal is being sent "intended or not that America does not want Muslims coming into our country. That is why we fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security."

While the United States must defend its borders, it has to be done in a way that "makes us safer and upholds all that is decent and exceptional about our nation," the senators said. The confusion at airports across the country on Saturday showed the executive order "was not properly vetted," and they are "particularly concerned by reports that this order went into effect with little to no consultation with the Departments of State, Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.