Madeleine Albright: Trump’s travel ban is ‘a repudiation of everything that America represents’
The former secretary of state said the Trump administration “ignored the most basic process of governing” in the development and issuance of the order.
Former Secretary of State and Wellesley College alumna Madeleine Albright is condemning President Donald Trump’s executive order closing U.S. borders to refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries as a “stark departure” from the nation’s central values.
In op-ed published Tuesday in The Boston Globe, Albright said the Trump administration “ignored the most basic process of governing” in the development and issuance of the order.
“By slamming the door shut on those fleeing violence and persecution, including people who took great risks by working on behalf of the U.S. military, the order represents a stark departure from core American values,” Albright wrote. “Despite what the administration says, the order effectively creates a religious preference in our immigration system and is deeply biased against Muslims — undermining the principles of religious freedom upon which our country was founded. As a refugee who rose to serve in one of the highest offices in the land, I consider it a repudiation of everything that America represents.”
This is not the first time the former secretary of state has spoken out against the policy. Before Trump signed the executive action Friday, Albright took to Twitter to express support for refugees, saying she was “ready to register” as a Muslim in solidarity.
There is no fine print on the Statue of Liberty. America must remain open to people of all faiths & backgrounds. #RefugeesWelcome pic.twitter.com/4LvMiZTRJJ
— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) January 25, 2017
I was raised Catholic, became Episcopalian & found out later my family was Jewish. I stand ready to register as Muslim in #solidarity.
— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) January 25, 2017
In her letter published in the Globe, the diplomat said the travel ban also will make work more difficult for counterterrorism professionals and “unleash anti-American sentiment and put our troops at risk.”
Albright said it is now up to Congress to act.
“Congress must force the president to rescind this ill-conceived and poorly executed policy, before he does more damage to our national security,” she wrote. “By suffering such a rebuke early on in his presidency, my hope is that President Trump will learn about the consequences of bad decision-making.”
If not, Albright said the president is “always welcome” in the class she teaches at Georgetown University on the process for national security decision-making.
Read her full letter at the Globe.
