Trump defends travel ban on Muslims in face of backlash

US President Donald Trump tried Sunday to quell a huge backlash against his executive order on immigration by saying it is not a ban on Muslims.  

As protesters against the order gathered at airports and poured into the streets of major US cities, Trump issued a statement Sunday reiterating his position that the order is “about terror and keeping our country safe.”  

The US president, just 10 days in office, defended the order he signed two days earlier, saying it is similar to what former president Barack Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months.   

“America is a proud nation of immigrants and we will continue to show compassion to those fleeing oppression, but we will do so while protecting our own citizens and border,” Trump said in the statement.   He said the seven countries referred to in the order are the same countries previously identified by the Obama administration as sources of terror.   “To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion - this is about terror and keeping our country safe,” he said.

Washington, (dpa), 30.01.2017