McCain and Flake take lead in opposing immigration ban

Regional News

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Arizona’s two U.S. senators quickly emerged as the leading Republican opposition to President Donald Trump’s order suspending the admission of all refugees for 120 days and blocking the entry of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The order also indefinitely bars Syrian refugees from entering the U.S.

In separate statements, U.S. John McCain and U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake called Trump’s order a “self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism” and “unacceptable,” respectively.

McCain and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina slammed the president’s order as not properly vetted, and “a hasty process risks harmful results.”

“We should not stop green-card holders from returning to the country they call home. We should not stop those who have served as interpreters for our military and diplomats from seeking refuge in the country they risked their lives to help. And we should not turn our backs on those refugees who have been shown through extensive vetting to pose no demonstrable threat to our nation, and who have suffered unspeakable horrors, most of them women and children,” the duo said.

The executive order bars entry for the next three months of citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.