Congressman reminds Trump and his aides that immigration ban wouldn't have prevented San Bernardino attack
As the congressman who represents San Bernardino, California, Pete Aguilar (D) wants President Trump and members of his staff to stop citing the December 2015 terrorist attack in the city as a reason for his executive order that bans refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.
"This executive order will do nothing to make our country safer and only sends a message of hate and bigotry to the rest of the world," Aguilar said in a statement. "This order would not have prevented the attack in San Bernardino and the use of San Bernardino as justification for this anti-Muslim policy is a revolting way to exploit our community."
The massacre, which killed 14 people, was committed by Syed Rizwan Farook, an American, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, who was raised in Pakistan and lived in Saudi Arabia before marrying Farook and moving to the United States. While the order blocks the entry of citizens from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and Somalia, it does not affect people coming in from Pakistan or Saudi Arabia.
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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.
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