Salt Lake City, UT – Good government group, Alliance for a Better Utah, called on members of Utah’s federal delegation to join Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain in immediately denouncing the recent executive order issued by the Trump Administration freezing the admission of refugees and immigrants from several predominantly Muslim countries.
As noted by Senators Graham and McCain, this action by the Trump Administration is more likely to embolden terrorists than to improve national security. Utah Governor Gary Herbert expressed his opposition to the order, saying Utah is a welcoming place for refugees and immigrants and said more important than where a person comes from is “who they are” and “what they are.” The LDS Church also released a statement urging “people and government to cooperate fully in seeking the best solutions to meet human needs and relieve suffering.”
David Irvine, a lawyer, retired Army intelligence officer and Alliance for a Better Utah Board member, said, “Utah is home to more than 45,000 refugees, and the religious communities of the state have worked hard to be welcoming and caring. The current refugee crisis is the largest since World War II, and it has been created in large part by American policy failures in the Middle East. The White House ban was reportedly crafted by an inexperienced junior staffer who apparently bypassed the normal channels of interagency review. There has been no showing that the stringent refugee review protocols in place are inadequate. The lasting effect of this chaotic order will be to strengthen the ISIS recruiting effort worldwide by creating a perception that the United States is embarked on a crusade against Muslims. If Utah’s congressional delegation will not stand against this discrimination against Muslim refugees, who will be next?”
Josh Kanter, Alliance for a Better Utah’s founder and Board Chair, said, “Utah has always been a place of safety for literal and figurative refugees and immigrants. We should continue to exude that welcoming spirit for all those seeking to come to make a better life for themselves and their families. False religious tests should not be tolerated in the name of national security but should be exposed and denounced for the falsehoods they represent. The Alliance for a Better Utah calls on all members of the Utah federal delegation, and urges all Utahns to contact their representatives, to immediately and forcefully denounce these nationalistic and discriminatory actions of our President.”
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