Trump supporters say they are happy with immigration order
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Supporters of President Donald Trump gathered outside Tom Bradley International Terminal as protests against President Trump’s executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries continued at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. >> Don’t talk about airport protests in Trump Country. In the states that propelled Donald Trump to the White House, the president’s fans couldn’t be much happier with his executive order temporarily banning refugees and immigrants from seven mostly Muslim countries.
Trump promised to put America first during the campaign, they say, and he’s doing it. That includes securing the nation’s borders and doing everything possible to prevent terrorists from entering the U.S.
In their view, Democrats and liberal snowflakes and soft-hearted do-gooders just need to calm down. Trump is being Trump.
“It shows me that he means what he says,” Judith Wilkenroh, 72, a retired social-services worker from Frederick, Maryland, said today. “He’s just unafraid. He’s just going ahead like a locomotive, and I like him more and more every time he does something.”
Two of Barbara Wood’s three sons served in the military after Sept. 11, and she’s all for Trump and his immigration order.
The president “is fulfilling his campaign promises to the best of his ability. I applaud him for that,” said Wood, who lives in suburban Birmingham.
Thousands of people have demonstrated at U.S. airports since Trump issued an order Friday blocking people from seven countries in the Middle East and Africa from entering the United States and suspending refugee immigration for four months. The protests included a gathering of several hundred people in Birmingham, the largest airport in a Southern state that Trump carried with ease.
Washington’s state attorney general filed a lawsuit over the order, and a federal judge in New York issued an emergency order temporarily banning deportations of people from the seven nations. Some Republican lawmakers have questioned the order, with Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina saying they fear it will become “a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism.”
Yet none of that criticism matters much in Trump Country, those states and counties where Trump claimed the votes to win the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton.
There, Trump supporters said, they are happy with the immigration order and the ideas behind it, from improving national security to watching out for Americans first. Some Trump backers said they might do things a little differently than the president, but their overall reaction is positive.
“We’re not the world’s Social Security office. We’re not here to take care of people,” said Jim Buterbaugh, the head of custodial work and maintenance at a public school in the western Montana town of White Hall. “I understand that people need help, but there are other ways besides bringing them here.”
Buterbaugh, who has actively fought the re-settlement of Syrians in Montana, was frustrated that Trump’s moratorium did not include countries such as Saudi Arabia, where most of the Sept. 11 hijackers were from. The executive order also did not include the creation of safe zones for refugees, which he favors.
Mike Honaker has some misgivings, too. A Trump supporter in a struggling West Virginia coal town, he didn’t think “blitzing everybody” with an order that spread chaos around the world was the right way to go.
But Honaker worries about terrorism and does not have a problem with Trump’s plan to screen refugees more thoroughly. Overall, Honaker likes 85 percent of what the president has done so far.
“I think he’s shaking it up, the whole of Washington, D.C., and half the country, like he said he would,” he said.
Attorney Terri King, 56, said Trump’s order has widespread support in her Rust Belt city of Middletown, Ohio.
The only people who don’t support it are “those who are paid to protest on the left … and some Democrats,” said King, an also-ran in a GOP congressional race last year.
Republican Scott Presley of Virginia Beach, Virginia, likes Trump’s order so much he thought about staging an airport protest of his own in support of the president.
Presler, who is gay, said he wanted to go to Virginia’s Dulles International Airport to support the president’s immigration ban while carrying a sign that said “Radical Islam Murders Gays.” But he said he stopped short of making the trip out of fear for his safety.
“I’m a compassionate human being,” said Presler, 28. “I’m a humanitarian. But I’m also compassionate toward the health and well-being of the American people. We have 50,000 homeless veterans in this country. We have our own poor and suffering.”
Associated Press writers Dave Dishneau in Hagerstown, Maryland; Claire Galofaro in Louisville, Kentucky; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Jacob Jordan in Atlanta; and Alanna Durkin Richer in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.
19 responses to “Trump supporters say they are happy with immigration order”
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Can you believe it… an elected official that is living up to their campaign promises. OMG.
Trump can do no wrong, like the people in Germany who saw Hitler as their savior.
IRT StanIslous, yes, it’s special when an elected representative lives up to their campaign promises. And, to Vector, you have kukai coming out of your post and it smells. Best to check your teeth.
And, if you kept it in your posts instead of between your ears, you’d probably be able to spell it.
Trump is trying to keep America safe from terrorists.
America and Americans First !!!
Safe from which terrorists. The Orlando ISIS terrorist, the Boston Marathon Islamic terrorists were born in this country. The ban does not prevent the American home grown ones from waging jihad.
Yet. Evidence is clear that at this point in time, homegrown terrorists are the real threat, not immigrants and refugees who are being screened.
It seems clear that because Trump’s statements and actions (and those of his followers) are seen a disrespectful of the Muslim faith, this will push more people on the edge of being radicalized over the line, and many more to move closer to the line. That’s just what feeling attacked and disrespected does to people. A few of those who are already over the line will get pushed to action.
But, as a stanch loyal Trump supporter, isn’t better to show strength and to not back down or show weakness? I guess this must be the best policy because Trump and Bannon say so, and they said Obama’s approach failed. We don’t want to be weaklings and failures do we? How will that keep us safe?
I was feeling confused for a minute there, until yogaman set me straight. It’s not Trum and Bannon’s fault people are upset. It’s the MEDIA “trying to stoke the flames of racial and religious tensions that exist and do not want us to come together as a nation.” Now I understand. The media did it.
Imagine intentionally whipping crowds up into an angry frenzy like this. How low can some people go? Who would do such a terrible thing?
It’s a good thing Trump is so calm, and so respectful of other points of view. He showed that throughout his campaign to unite the nation. Trump and Bannon will get this whole mess fixed in a jiffy. They love and respect Muslims and other minorities so so much. Love.
You’ll see.
Again the media trying to divide the country again. I don’t think anyone it’s “happy” that a temporary immigration ban was put in place. Supporters are encouraged that the president is doing something to keep Americans safe on our soil. The media is trying to stoke the flames of racial and religious tensions that exist and do not want us to come together as a nation.
Don’t buy into their spin!!!!
We are a nation of immigrants and I believe that’s what makes our country great. However, we do need to keep our country safe. I am encouraged that issue is being addressed not played down like the last administration
Safe from who??? And based off of what prior events??? Those questions could help sway some anti-Trumpers…#MAGA
Yippee. America first!
Yippe , Trump first, to hell with the rest of the world.
Your fear of one man is making you delusional. Why are you so hateful? Why do we need more immigrants? Foreign countries criticize us, hate Americans, yet they want to take our money and want to live the way we do.
Canada says they’re all welcome from those countries. Pretty soon Canada will be full of them
Let’s build a wall!
It’s a no-brainer that Trump supporters are happy; why wouldn’t they be?
Does the gay trump supporter realize that he is next on Trumps undesirable list? Don’t believe me, ask Mike Pence.
When some of these Islamic Terrorists immigrants commit mass murders in America then perhaps some of these butter cups will change their tune about
immigration screening and laws.
I would ask of all Muslim immigrants “Why do you want to come to the United States a Christian country by majority?” “Is it for the personal freedom, the welfare benefits and all the amenities a democratic system forfeits to the indigent and less trying?” “What do you bring to the table that will benefit all Americans who currently live here and who paid with their blood to preserve the rights and privileges that many (including the liberals) enjoy?” “Are you ready to salute and honor the American Flag? Are you willing to swear allegiance to this country to love and protect?” If you come just to feed off of a generous Christian society that turns a blind eye to centuries of fostered hate for Christians, maybe Canada is a better place to go to. Don’t fight it accept the hand that offers you safe and welcome sanctuary the likes of Canada. You will be much happier and at peace. If you insist on America, then accept the laws and demands we are all subject to for an orderly society. Accept living with Christians, Buddhists, Jews and all other religious sects and people, learn to speak English, Learn the Pledge of Allegiance, volunteer for military duty, show everyone you belong here. Rid yourself of the mask and prejudices that hides your face, honor women, revere your religion but become an American.