Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) yesterday issued a statement in support of President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting entry to the United States from seven countries.
“I support the temporary entry restriction from certain nations until the administration, Congress and the American people know with confidence that any individual being granted admission does not pose a threat to our security,” Zeldin, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in the statement.
The executive order, signed late Friday afternoon, indefinitely barred Syrian refugees from entering the U.S., suspended all refugee admissions for 120 days and blocked citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, from entering the U.S. for 90 days.
After the president signed the order late Friday afternoon, green card holders — legal permanent residents of the U.S.— as well as students and visitors from the seven countries referred to in the order, were stopped at airports in the U.S. and abroad, according to the N.Y. Times and other media.
“The Department of Homeland Security said that the order also barred green card holders from those countries from re-entering the United States. In a briefing for reporters, White House officials said that green card holders from the seven affected countries who are outside the United States would need a case-by-case waiver to return,” the Times reported.
On Saturday, a federal judge in Brooklyn blocked part of Trump’s order, preventing the U.S. from deporting those detained at U.S. airports.
On Sunday morning, the president’s chief of staff Reince Priebus, during an interview on the NBC news show “Meet the Press,” said the executive order’s ban “doesn’t include green card holders going forward.”
Zeldin in a statement issued at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, shortly after the Priebus interview aired, said “lawful permanent residents and green card holders should not be adversely impacted by this executive order.”
Zeldin noted that the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security may both, “on a case by case basis,” issue visas or other “immigration benefits” to foreign nationals who would otherwise be blocked by the president’s executive order.
“Every American has sympathy for the innocent person who is looking to come to America for a better life, but the process must without exception prioritize America’s national security first,” Zeldin said. “We cannot allow someone entry until we know for sure they will not pose a risk.
“The ultimate humanitarian victory is to assist with efforts to stabilize these nations and eliminate the threats there to peace,” he said. “With all that being said, I will be closely monitoring the execution of this EO to make sure that any misapplication is corrected immediately.”
Two hours later, Zeldin issued a second statement concerning the detention at JFK airport of an Iranian graduate student at Stony Brook University.
Vahideh Rasekhi, a six-year doctoral student in linguistics and current president of Stony Brook University’s Graduate Student Organization was detained at the airport when she returned to the U.S. from a visit to Iran.
“We have received confirmation that she should be released this afternoon,” Zeldin said. “We will continue to monitor this situation closely to ensure that she is released.”
According to media reports, Rasekhi was released Sunday evening, after about 30 hours in detention at the airport, the site of ongoing protests since Friday night.
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