USA TODAY International Edition
Kelly on travel ban: ‘ I should have consulted Congress’
Homeland Security chief also testifies on border wall
“In retrospect, I should have delayed it just a bit to talk to congressional leaders to prepare them for what was coming.” John Kelly, Homeland Security secretary
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said Tuesday that he should have delayed the implementation of President Trump’s temporary travel ban on immigrants and refugees for at least a day or two to tell congressional leaders what was about to happen.
He also told members of the House Homeland Security Committee that it would not be possible to build a 2,000- mile- long wall along the U. S.- Mexico border quickly and that he would focus on erecting sections of seethrough fencing in areas where Customs and Border Protection officials say it is needed most.
Kelly, in his first testimony before Congress since being confirmed Jan. 20, promised to work more closely with congressional leaders before taking action to execute an executive order as dramatic as Trump’s travel ban. The president’s executive order imposed a 120- day ban on refugees entering the U. S. and a 90- day ban on most citizens of Libya, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan and Libya. It also indefinitely barred Syrians from entering the U. S.
“In retrospect, I should have delayed it just a bit to talk to congressional leaders to prepare them for what was coming,” Kelly said. He later added, “Lesson learned, on me, I should have slowed it down by a day, maybe two.” He also said he probably shouldn’t have executed the order on a Friday afternoon.
“Going forward, I would certainly have taken some time to inform the Congress, and that’s something I’ll do in the future,” Kelly said.
However, he defended the goals of the temporary travel ban, which he referred to as a “pause” to allow his department to ensure that people coming from the seven predominantly Muslim nations have been properly vetted and that terrorists are not slipping into the U. S. by pretending to be refugees.
“It is our duty to protect our citizens from terrorists,” Kelly said, adding that he believes the order will survive court challenges. “We believe it is lawful and constitutional.”
The order was blocked by U. S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle on Friday while court challenges continue to play out. The Trump administration appealed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco to reinstate the travel ban while the case progresses.
Kelly made it clear that Americans should not expect what Trump has called a “big beautiful” wall to be built quickly on the Southwest border. In fact, that wall may end up being sections of fencing to plug the most glaring gaps in border security rather than one huge, long wall, he said.
“We’re not going to be able to build a wall everywhere, all at once,” the retired Marine general said. “We’re not going to build it all in an afternoon.”
Kelly said it’s hard to say how long a wall or walls will take to build because it depends on funding. House Speaker Paul Ryan, RWis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., have said they expect the Trump administration to ask Congress to approve an emergency funding request of $ 12 billion to $ 14 billion to pay for the wall. Trump insists that Mexico will reimburse U. S. taxpayers for the cost, but Mexico has vowed that it will not pay for the barrier.
Kelly said he recently visited the border in Texas and talked to Customs and Border Protection officials who told him “their preference was not to have something they couldn’t see through.” Instead, Kelly said, they wanted transparent barriers, backed up with technology.