MARCH 2017

PHOTO/IGOR ZEHL (CTK VIA AP IMAGES)
why christian priority?
President’s Executive Order consistent with campaign message
BY VANESSA DENHA GARMO
Although Congress was not aware of President
Donald Trump’s executive order
banning immigration from seven Muslim
countries prior to him signing it, his order was
consistent with the campaign promises — just one
of the many things noted by Congressman David
Trott (R) from the 11th District as the opposition
to the President continues.
Shortly after President Trump signed the executive
order, he announced that persecuted Christians
would be given priority status while trying to enter
into the United States. That statement escalated
the controversy. “There is no doubt that citizens
of Iraq and Syria, regardless of their religion, are
being persecuted, however Christians and other
religious minorities are not just being persecuted,
they are facing extinction,” said Trott. “This was
proved in 2015 when the House of Representatives
voted unanimously that religious minorities in Iraq
and Syria were undergoing genocide at the hands
of ISIS. Secretary Kerry subsequently stated that
he agreed that these groups were facing genocide.”
This acknowledgment does not to take away
from the fact that other religious and ethnic groups
are facing persecution, but in fact is a realistic
view at what is going on, on the ground in Iraq
and Syria. “Any serious refugee policy coming from
the United States has to prioritize religious minorities,”
said Trott. “These minority groups in Iraq and
Syria simply have nowhere else to go and are facing
complete expulsion.”
The United States has a history of making it
easier for the worlds most vulnerable to seek refuge
in the United States: The “Lautenberg Amendment”
was a provision of the FY1990 Foreign Operations
Appropriations Act. It required the Attorney
General to designate categories of former
Soviet and Indochinese nationals for whom less
evidence is needed to prove refugee status.
The Lautenberg Amendment has been regularly
extended in appropriations act and has also
included a new provision known as the “Specter
22 CHALDEAN NEWS MARCH 2017