The Slatest

Trump to Sign Temporary Immigration Ban Targeting Muslims and Blocking Most Refugees

Donald Trump addresses a campaign rally on Nov. 3 in Selma, North Carolina.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

If you thought, or perhaps just hoped, Donald Trump’s gnarled nastiness on the campaign trail would be softened by the hushed reverence of the White House, five days into real life under Trump it’s pretty clear the scowl and the bark are here to stay. What’s worse is that at every crossroads of the campaign Trump opted to delve deeper into the political darkness of division and now he’s systematically enshrining our worst collective demons into law. Next up appears to be Trump’s call to block many Muslim immigrants and refugees from entering the country.

From Reuters:

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign several executive orders on Wednesday restricting immigration from Syria and six other Middle Eastern or African countries, according to several congressional aides and immigration experts briefed on the matter. In addition to Syria, Trump’s orders are expected to temporarily restrict access to the United States for most refugees. Another order will block visas from being issued to Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, said the aides and experts, who asked not to be identified. Trump’s restrictions on refugees are likely to include a multi-month ban on admissions from all countries until the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security can increase the intensity of the vetting process.

This is actually a scaled-back version of Trump’s original, somehow more noxious plan in which he called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” on the campaign trail in December 2015.