Paul Ryan admits there was 'some confusion in the rollout' of President Trump's immigration executive order

(Image credit: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

published 31 January 2017

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) didn't back off his support for President Trump's immigration executive order while speaking at a press briefing Tuesday, but he did admit the order could have been rolled out a bit more smoothly. "I think it's regrettable there was some confusion in the rollout of this," Ryan said about Trump's order banning people entering the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries. For context, the "confusion" Ryan referred to resulted in green card holders, visa holders, a 5-year-old boy, and an Iraqi who assisted the U.S. military being detained, and many people being pulled off of international flights or sent back to their country of origin.

Ryan insisted Tuesday that "no one wanted to see people with green cards or special immigrant visas, like translators, get caught up in all of this." However, he maintained that Trump "has a responsibility to the security of this country." "We need to pause, and we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff," Ryan said. "There is nothing wrong with taking a pause."

Ryan also indicated he has spoken with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and is "confident that he is, on a going forward basis, going to make sure that things are done correctly."