WASHINGTON -- Representative Susan W. Brooks (R-IN05) does not support the religious test in President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration, and says she needs more clarity on how the order will be executed.
Brooks is one of the only Indiana Republicans in Congress not to outright support the executive order on immigration.
Brooks released a statement Sunday night, saying she agrees more needs to be done, but not without more information on President Trump's executive order.
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The order, which Trump signed Friday afternoon and was frozen Saturday night by a federal judge, bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Africa, including Syria, from entering the United States for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days. A federal judge blocked the order Saturday night, but it could still potentially be enforced as the stay makes its way through the courts.
Brooks' statement reads:
“Keeping our country safe should be our top priority, and I agree that we must do more to improve our vetting process for foreign nationals and refugees who wish to come to our country, especially from places where terrorist organizations are active and governments are unstable or nonexistent. We know that jihadists and terrorists are using our immigration and refugee resettlement programs to infiltrate and attack our homeland. It is up to us to ensure that their efforts to do so are unsuccessful, and increased scrutiny of people traveling to the United States from such places is one way to accomplish this goal. However, I do not believe in discrimination, I do not support a religious test for immigrants or refugees, and I do support our nation's refugee resettlement program. America is a nation of immigrants, and our diversity has always been one of our greatest strengths. I join my colleagues in Congress in calling on the Administration for more information and clarity around the impact of the temporary provisions in the executive order on people who already have visas or who have previously been granted legal status.”
Congressman Todd Rokita (R-IN) and Senator Todd Young (R-IN) have both supported the President's executive order. You can read their statements here.
Purdue President Mitch Daniels weighed in on Sunday, saying the executive order is a "bad idea."
Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie also chimed in Sunday, calling the order "contrary to the very core of our values as an institution."
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