Pelosi Claims New Travel Ban Affects 350 Million, But the Real Number Is Actually 12K
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not necessarily a fact-friendly person. If you need evidence of that, you can currently look at the trial happening in the upper chamber of Congress, a trial which is a result of the lower chamber — the one Pelosi is in control if, in case you were unaware — deciding to impeach the president.
To her credit, the speaker can walk and chew gum at the the same time, which is why she was able to distort the facts in another matter entirely — this time involving a new travel ban imposed by the White House.
Last Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced travel restrictions on six new nations due to those countries failing to meet security criteria.
According to The Daily Caller, the new list includes Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar (Burma), Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.
Seven other countries remain on the list: Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.
“Whenever foreign nationals present themselves in the U.S., authorities must be able to answer three basic questions to determine if they are admissible: Is this person who they claim to be? Do they pose a threat to security and public safety? Do they qualify for admission based on the Immigration and Nationality Act? However, the foreign documents presented to U.S. cannot always be verified,” a DHS official said.
“Our ability to trust that document [a foreign national’s passport] is dependent on the quality of the process of the foreign government issuing it, security features in that document and our ability to [confirm its identity].
“Verification can’t always be accomplished by a physical examination of a document. People have a way of getting false documents, or illegitimately getting documents that have been issued to other people and presenting themselves fraudulently,” they added.
One thing most publications tended to downplay, however, is that this “ban,” such as it is, doesn’t affect everyone in the country.
“The restrictions being imposed on the six countries are different from what was imposed in 2017. They will only include limited categories of visa applications,” the DHS spokesperson said.
“Specifically, entry will be restricted for immigrant visa applicants from Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria, whereas Sudan and Tanzania will be limited on to diversity visa applications.”
Apparently no one told Nancy Pelosi this.
“The Trump Administration’s expansion of its outrageous, un-American travel ban threatens our security, our values and the rule of law. The sweeping rule, barring more than 350 million individuals from predominantly African nations from traveling to the United States, is discrimination disguised as policy,” she said in a statement.
“America’s strength has always been as a beacon of hope and opportunity for people around the world, whose dreams and aspirations have enriched our nation and made America more American. With this latest callous decision, the President has doubled down on his cruelty and further undermined our global leadership, our Constitution and our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants.
“In the Congress and in the Courts, House Democrats will continue to oppose the Administration’s dangerous anti-immigrant agenda. In the coming weeks, the House Judiciary Committee will mark-up and bring to the Floor the NO BAN Act to prohibit religious discrimination in our immigration system and limit the President’s ability to impose such biased and bigoted restrictions. We will never allow hatred or bigotry to define our nation or destroy our values.”
Forget the usual Pelosi chatter about bigotry, which assumes these are all majority Muslim nations. (They aren’t, in case you were curious.) As acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf pointed out in a Saturday tweet, Pelosi’s claims were factually inaccurate.
“Facts are stubborn. The new travel restrictions do not apply to 350 million people — as some of our critics would lead you to believe. Such statements are grossly inaccurate and irresponsible,” he said.
Facts are stubborn. The new travel restrictions do not apply to 350 million people – as some of our critics would lead you to believe. Such statements are grossly inaccurate and irresponsible. https://t.co/YY7YfONvnc
— Acting Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) February 2, 2020
“An official with the Department of Homeland Security on Friday said roughly 12,400 people will be impacted by the rule, and that estimation does not even include waivers,” The Daily Caller reported.
So, 350 million vs. 12,000. Forget the fact that Pelosi assumed every single person in these nations wanted to and qualified to come here. Even if you reduce that first number, we’re still talking about a massive difference.
Will this change Nancy Pelosi’s rhetoric? Of course not. Perhaps, one hopes, it will change some other minds.
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