Did Barack Obama Implement A Muslim Ban In 2011?

Did Barack Obama Implement A Muslim Ban In 2011? Donald Trump would like you to believe these alternative facts.  According to Trump, his travel ban is much like President Obama’s in 2011, however, with a little research you will see they couldn’t be more different.

 

Let’s start with common sense, how would Barack Obama be able to pull of a ban in 2011 and no one make a big deal about it.  I mean, the proposed Muslim banning other Muslims from entering the country? Didn’t Trump say President Obama was ISIS? How does that make sense?

 

But let’s look at the facts:

 

Under President Obama’s administration, the State Department stopped processing Iraq refugees for six months in 2011, but unlike Trump,  the temporary halt on the process did not affect green card holders, anyone with a visa, or any refugees who had already gone through the vetting process. This means that a scene like what has been occurring at airports across America would not have happened because refugees who are here legally, were able to get home to their families and travel as they see fit.

 

Donald Trump, on the other hand, barred entry into the United States from groups who come from 7 Muslim-majority countries, despite being legal United States visa and green card holders. Airports all over the country were a chaotic scene because refugees who called the United States their home were being illegally detained and told they could not return.

 

President Obama’s six month halt on processing new Iraqi refugees stemmed from a case in Kentucky involving two Iraqi refugees,Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi,  who “plotted to send sniper rifles, Stinger missiles and money to al-Qaida operatives waging an insurgency back home against U.S. troops.” So, in the meantime, President Obama paused approval of new refugee applications until more stringent vetting procedures were created. The new procedures included determining if fingerprints matched those recovered off IEDs.

 

Also, unlike Trump, preference was not given to a specific religious group. Trump has already publicly announced that Christians in these countries will take precedent over Muslims.

 

So, as you can see, the situations in 2011 and 2017 are not comparable. In one situation, the president did not let anyone NEW in. In this situation, Trump isn’t letting anyone in AT ALL.