“It’s not a Muslim ban, but we are totally prepared,” president says
President Donald Trump on Saturday claimed that his executive order on immigration and refugees is “working out very nicely” despite numerous large protests — and increasing evidence that it’s having inhumane consequences.Â
Trump also claimed that the administration was “totally prepared” to implement the order, despite reports that Customs and Border Protection officials weren’t ready for its implementation, creating chaos for migrants affected by it.Â
One woman who was being deported to Chile under the ban even attempted suicide at JFK Airport in New York City, before she was saved by two Port Authority police officers. New York City taxi drivers went on strike Saturday evening in protest, and tech companies like Apple and Google were speaking out against the order and scrambling to protect their employees.Â
At LAX Airport in Los Angeles, one Iranian green card holder was reportedly detained two weeks in advance of her citizenship ceremony. Some airlines were requesting that people sign indemnification forms committing to pay the cost of their own deportation. And immigration attorneys were descending on airports from coast to coast to assist those who’d been detained.Â
“It’s not a Muslim ban, but we are totally prepared,” Trump told media gathered in the Oval Office on Saturday afternoon. “It’s working out very nicely. You see it in the airports, you see it all over. It’s working out very nicely and we are going to have a very, very strict ban and we are going to have extreme vetting, which we should have had in this country for many years.”Â