GOP Rep Wants Iraqis Exempt from Trump Travel Ban

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) says Iraq should be exempt from President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban, despite reports 19 migrants from the troubled Arab state have been convicted in terror plots in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.

The Illinois congressman, talking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday night, expressed concern for Iraqi translators who assisted the U.S. military.

“I actually wish Iraq was not included on the travel ban. I think it will be. Because Iraq is our closest ally right now in fighting ISIS.”

“I actually wish Iraq was not included on the travel ban,” said Kinzinger. “I think it will be. Because Iraq is our closest ally right now in fighting ISIS. And frankly, their vetting standards are very tight, because we created them as a country.”

Maura Gillespie, a spokesman for Kinzinger, reiterated the congressman’s concern for “those who served alongside our military,” when asked to clarify his position on an Iraqi exemption from the travel ban.

What both Kinzinger and his office failed to note is that Iraqi translators and interpreters assisting the U.S. are already eligible for waivers under the current order.

Kevin McAleenan, a senior official for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, clarified during a Jan. 31 news conference Iraqi’s aiding the United States would be allowed to board their flights, are eligible for a special immigrant visa “and will be processed for a waiver upon arrival.”

Kinzinger may also be unaware that 19 Iraqi migrants in the U.S. have been convicted of terror plots since Sept. 11, 2001, according to information taken from a 2016 U.S. Senate report.

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In June 2016, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, then chaired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, released a report on individuals convicted in terror cases since Sept. 11, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

The report found that 380 out of 580 people convicted in terror cases since Sept. 11 were foreign-born, the center found.

The center says it extracted information on 72 individuals named in the Senate report. The individuals were from seven terror-associated countries included in Trump’s controversial Jan. 27 vetting order: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

Trump is expected to re-issue the order, which has been held up in court almost immediately after the White House implemented it.

The travel ban is temporary, and bans only Syrian refugees indefinitely.

Kinzinger has pleaded for an Iraq exemption before. His latest comments come as Trump is likely re-drafting an executive order to avoid another court suspension.

Kinzinger’s office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.