Immigration Order similar to Obama policy

“My policy is similar to what President Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months.”

Trump Statement regarding Executive Order via Factcheck.org

Truth:  As pointed out by Jon Finer in Foreign Policy, the action Trump refers to from 2011 only applied to Iraq refugees and applicants for Special Immigrant Visas.  Also, Obama couldn’t have “banned visas for refugees” because refugees do not travel on visas.

Obama’s action was a response to a specific threat posed by 2 Iraqi refugees in Kentucky. The resulting enhancement of vetting for certain Iraqis was never a ban and refugees continued to arrive and be admitted from Iraq during the 6 month period. Oh, by the way, the policy was coherent and rolled out after careful review to ensure smooth implementation unlike Trump’s executive order.

— Foreign Policy

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