US Rep. Russell Pushes For Exemptions On Trump Travel Ban

Congressman Steve Russell is among a handful of military veterans in Congress asking for exemptions for several groups in President Donald Trump’s travel and refugee ban.

Russell, who spoke over the phone from Washington on Tuesday, is advocating children in need of life saving medical care and individuals who have worked for the U.S. government or military. Often, those are interpreters or cultural advisers to U.S. troops.

“When [former President Obama] put a six month stay on refugees coming from Iraq in 2011 ... I saw first-hand the effects and implications of that on people that I worked with. Some are no longer alive today,” the Oklahoma Republican said as he referred to the ban that put in place by Obama after two Iraqi nationals were caught planning an attack in Kentucky.

Russell voted to pause American acceptance of Syrian refugees last year saying he wanted a “seat at the table” in the discussion, pushing for a congressional fact-finding mission to inspect refugee camps.

He would eventually be a part of that mission which led to his idea now to allow young children who need advanced medical attention to be allowed temporary visas, including visas for their mothers, to come to the U.S. for life saving care.

Russell also touched on the considerable confusion surrounding Trump's executive order. The order bans travel for 90 days from seven majority-Muslim countries including Iraq, Iran and Syria.

It also enacted a 120-day ban on accepting refugees from those countries and put in place an indefinite ban on all Syrian refugees. The seven countries listed don’t have any specific ties to terror attacks on U.S. soil, but may have ties to several business holdings by the Trump Organization.

The order has been criticized by many of the Mr. Trump’s opponents who characterized it as a “Muslim ban.” 

“The first thing I think is you have to look at what the executive order says. You won't see the word ban. You won't see the word Muslim you won't see any of those things which people are portraying this as,” Russell said defending the order. “I think 90 to 120 days to examine, terrorist racked, war torn, civil war countries probably has merit.” 

In the days following the signing of the order, Republicans and White House officials have chastised new outlets for using the word ban, despite its use by several administration officials and the president himself.

In a tweet from his personal account on Wednesday, Trump said, “[e]verybody is arguing whether or not it is a BAN (sic). Call it what you want, it is about keeping bad people (with bad intentions) out of country!”

Counter-terror and military experts have said the order may fuel resentment towards the U.S. in those countries on the ban list. Russell agreed that it may embolden terror recruiting to groups like ISIS, but put the blame on critics of the order, not the president.

“If opponents of the president continue to call this something it's not, because they'll only see it through the lens of our media. If they continue to call this a Muslim ban, which is ridiculous... so lets be fair about that and report it accurately,” Russell said.

He said there were problems with the White House’s messaging surrounding the ban.

When asked about the rapid pace in which the sweeping executive orders have been signed, Russell waived off the question, comparing it to the previous administration.

“Eight years ago, we had almost identical actions. Where I think in the first week, President Trump did nine executive orders, President Obama did nine,” he said. “We're a short memory country; instant pudding, microwaves, 144 (sic) character communication. We want everything fast and now.”

In the end, Russell said he hope the rancor subsides so help can arrive for those in need. 

“If all we're doing is shouting past one another then we have maimed children that can't get life-saving care and we have people that stood by our military that are not going to be able to come,” he said.