At a White House press conference today first billed as an announcement of the new labor secretary nominee, President Trump was questioned by the press on the roll out of the anti-Muslim travel ban. Trump insisted that the process was “very smooth,” but that they simply faced “a bad court.” Trump also informed the reporter that his administration would be putting out a new order next week—and given that the last order was a ban specifically targeting Muslims and refugees, this does not bode well.
When further questioned by a different reporter about this pending order and DACA, Trump said “this is a very hard subject for me.” He repeatedly stated that his administration would “deal with DACA with heart” because “I love these kids.” However, he did not say what his specific plans were for DACA and the undocumented immigrants that the order protects. Notably, as Trump was holding the press conference, on the Hill Congressional Hispanic Caucus members were barred from meeting with ICE leadership. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez tweeted: “I was asked to leave the meeting with #ICE by @SpeakerRyan staff. Never before in 20 plus years has this happened.”
I was asked to leave the meeting with #ICE by @SpeakerRyan staff. Never before in 20 plus years has this happened. pic.twitter.com/Vbe0BnsZNK
— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) February 16, 2017
On the new order being released next week, Trump said it would be “tailored” to the “bad decision”—the way he refers to the 9th Circuit’s ruling against his anti-Muslim ban. Sticking to his hyperbolic rhetoric, Trump said that “some of the best lawyers in the country [are] working on it.” Trump did not provide further details of the proposed action. However, given the president’s reaction to the 9th Circuit’s ruling against his other order, and his history of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric, we can safely assume this order will not be any better than the last one.