Obama Calls Out Trump Immigration Ban In 1st Statement Since Transition

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jan 30, 2017 9:42PM

Photo: Tyler LaRiviere

Less than two weeks after leaving office, former President Barack Obama joined the chorus of those supporting protests against Donald Trump’s immigration-ban executive order.

“President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country,” read the statement from Kevin Lewis, spokesperson to the former president. It was Obama's first statement since leaving office.

Presidents of course tend to limit comment about or criticism of their immediate successors, and the statement doesn’t go so far as to name Trump or call out his executive order out specifically. But the implication is impossible to miss. Obama believes that “American values are at stake,” the statement read. He also defended himself against Trump's misguided charge that his actions are similar to ones take by Obama in 2011.

The statement read in full:

"President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. In his final official speech as President, he spoke about the important role of citizens and how all Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy — not just during an election but every day.

Citizens exercising their Constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake.

With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve heard before, the President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith."

Trump’s executive order lifted the nation’s refugee program for 120 days, suspended Syrian refugees indefinitely, imposed a 90-day entry ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The order sparked chaos and protests at airports in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C., and San Francisco over the weekend, as even travelers with green cards and visas were extendedly detained.