Trump Proposes Immigration Ban on Areas With ‘Proven History of Terrorism’
— -- Donald Trump, in the wake of the horrific shooting at an Orlando gay club, has called for a ban on immigration from "areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies."
Trump drew fire last year when he called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States in a bid to tamp down on Islamic terrorism. It was not clear if this was an expansion of the plan and the Trump camp did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We must find out what is going on. We have to do it. It will be lifted, this ban, when and as a nation we're in a position to properly and perfectly screen these people coming in to our country,” Trump said.
"I refuse to allow America to become a place where gay people, Christian people, Jewish people are targets of persecution and intimidation by radical Islamic preachers of hate and violence.”
During the speech, Trump condemned the Orlando attack and began the speech with a moment of silence.
"The horror is beyond description. The families of these wonderful people are totally devastated and they will be forever," Trump said. "Likewise, our whole nation and, indeed, the whole world is devastated."
The presumptive Republican nominee delivered his address in New Hampshire, the state of his first primary victory, at Saint Anselm’s College.
He attacked what he says is a dysfunctional immigration system and falsely said that the shooter, Omar Mateen, was born in Afghanistan, when he was born in New York.
"The killer whose name I will not use or ever say was born in Afghan of Afghan parents who emigrated to the United States. His father published support for the Afghan Taliban, a regime which murders those who don't share its radical views."
Mateen's father had a talk show in the US which a former Afghan official described as pro-Taliban. But a former colleague refuted that, calling it pro-American.
Trump also said he stood in solidarity with Orlando’s “LGBT” community.
“It's an assault on the ability of free people to live their lives, love who they want and express their identity. It's an attack on the right of every single American to live in peace and safety in their own country," Trump said.
And Trump disparaged rival Hillary Clinton, making the case that he was more pro-LBGT than she is. "Ask yourself, who is really the friend of women and the LB and LGBT community. Donald Trump with actions or Hillary Clinton with her words. I will tell you who the better friend is. And some day I believe that will be proven out bigly,” he said.
The speech initially was meant to be a speech on “all things Clinton” but Trump postponed that speech in the wake of the tragedy, promising on Monday that he will deliver that speech “very very soon.” Yet still, the remnants of that speech seemed to make their way into his remarks, as he attacked his Democratic rival several times by name.
"The bottom line is that Hillary supports policies that bring the threat of radical Islam into America and allow it to grow overseas and it is growing,” he said.
He called on her to explain why she has proposed to allow refugees into the country.
"The burden is on Hillary Clinton to tell us why we should admit anyone into our country who supports violence of any kind against gay and lesbian Americans, the burden is on Hillary Clinton to tell us how she will pay for it, her plan will cost hundreds of billions of dollars long term," he said.
Trump went on to call for a strengthening of intelligence and immigration communities and called for President Obama to release the immigration histories of all individuals implicated in terrorist activities.
"The public has a right to know how these people got here, how they came on to this great land, why are they here?" he asked.
