‘Spicer: 7 Travel Ban Countries First Identified by Obama Admin’
White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s latest executive order on immigration and refugee vetting, arguing the Obama administration originally flagged the seven “countries of particular concern.”
“The Obama administration put these first and foremost,” Spicer told ABC’s “This Week.”
Trump on Friday signed an executive order that calls for a 90-day ban on nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries entering the United States. The countries included are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Somalia.
In February of 2016, the Obama Administration added Libya, Yemen and Somalia to a list of “countries of concern” with respect to its visa waiver program.
Spicer said on Sunday there are many other Muslim-majority countries not included in the ban.
“There’s 46 Muslim-majority countries that are not in this seven,” he said.
Trump’s Friday order also calls for a 120-day halt on the admittance of refugees, in addition to an indefinite pause on admitting refugees from Syria.