Florida Lawmakers, Activists Voice Concerns Over Trump's Travel Ban
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, backlash continued Monday against President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration.
"We will not go back. We will not be a country that doesn't stand up for our values, for freedom," said U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz(D) FL District 23.
Over the weekend in Miami and airports across the country, demonstrators rallied against the Trump order placing a four-month ban on all refugee admissions, and a 90-day ban on admissions of any kind from seven mostly Muslim countries (Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan).
Related: Trump Supporters Say They Are Happy With Travel Ban
The order has drawn criticism even from Republican members of Congress, like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who told CBS4 News the president's "ego has caused chaos."
"This latest executive order is especially troublesome, because he didn't even run it by his department of homeland security chief," Ros-Lehtinen said.
Sen. Marco Rubio was a little more careful with his words on the abrupt order.
"We are seeking clarity on the changes to the visa waiver program, which is critical to the economies of our respective states," he said.
Related: Fmr. President Obama Has Something To Say About Trump's Travel Ban
Gov. Rick Scott, in South Florida for a veterans event, declined to criticize the president.
"Our immigration system is a mess. We all care about public safety, and so we all need to work together to figure out how do we improve our immigration system," Scott said.
As demonstrators took to the streets over the weekend, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took the issue to court, winning rulings against the presidential hold on immigration, that Trump said is needed for national safety.
"That presumes that everybody who is a Muslim is a terrorist. I think that is just a shameful piece of religious bigotry," said the ACLU's Howard Simon.
Related: Trump Signs Order "Massively" Reducing Business Regulation
The federal courts have blocked the administration from keeping legal residents from returning, or from turning away those who already have been issued visas. Countless thousands of refugees and other immigrants for the moment, however, are being barred from entry.
Critics of the president's immigration ban point out that his list of seven nations totally barred from entry doesn't include Saudi Arabia for instance. Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers were from there. And it doesn't include Afghanistan where the U.S. is waging war against Muslim extremists.
There was a shift in tone from Sen. Rubio late Monday. He expressed frustration after his "staff was told the State Department, as of today, was ordered not to talk to Congress about this issue."
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