In an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network News’ the Brody File, President Donald Trump said he would give persecuted Christians priority when it comes to seeking refugee status in the United States. This comes as Trump is expected to sign an executive order that blocks Syrian refugees from coming into the U.S. altogether and bars all refugees from the rest of the world for at least 120 days. It’s not clear if the Christians would somehow be exempt from his order.
Here is a portion of the transcript from CBN NEWS/THE BRODY FILE:
DAVID BRODY: “Persecuted Christians, we’ve talked about this, the refugees overseas. The refugee program, or the refugee changes you’re looking to make. As it relates to persecuted Christians, do you see them as kind of a priority here?”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Yes.”
DAVID BRODY: “You do?”
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “They’ve been horribly treated. Do you know if you were a Christian in Syria it was impossible, at least very tough to get into the United States? If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible and the reason that was so unfair, everybody was persecuted in all fairness, but they were chopping off the heads of everybody but more so the Christians. And I thought it was very, very unfair. So we are going to help them.
CBS Reporter Sopan Deb commented that this interview confirms that “it was a Muslim ban all along. ‘Extreme vetting’ was just dressing it up.’
This confirms it. It was a Muslim ban all along. “Extreme vetting” was just dressing it up. https://t.co/S5YhnIRwsx pic.twitter.com/0sVb0Fi8Te
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) January 27, 2017
The New York Times also reports that as part of Trump’s order, he plans to suspend any immigration for at least 30 days from many Muslim countries including Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.