Connecticut U.S. Senator Chris Murphy introduced a bill on Monday to overturn President Trump’s executive order on immigration.
The bill would stop funding toward the enforcement of the executive order. It would also declare the order illegal, based on a 1965 law banning discrimination against immigrants based on national origin.
"We should pursue every means of pushing back," Murphy said over the weekend. "This is dangerous to the United States. It makes us less safe. And of course, it's contrary to our founding principles."
The law is clear. The #MuslimBan is illegal. I will introduce a bill this week to immediately overturn this dangerous, hateful order.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 29, 2017
Murphy said he’s trying to work with Republicans who may be interested in co-sponsoring the measure.
"There have been members of the Senate -- like Jeff Flake from Arizona; Ben Sasse from Nebraska -- who have spoken up in full or partial opposite on to it," Murphy said. "So we’re reaching out to those offices to see if they’d like to work with us. It's frustrating, because during the campaign, all of these Republicans from Paul Ryan to Mike Pence himself came out and said there should not be a ban on Muslim citizens. And that’s exactly what this is."
A religious test for entering our country is not reflective of America's fundamental values. I reject it. pic.twitter.com/DdsYj2XoLS
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) July 31, 2016
Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional.
— Governor Mike Pence (@GovPenceIN) December 8, 2015
Murphy said that if the president wants to tackle the terrorist threat seriously, he should encourage better sharing of counterterrorism intelligence, and ban those on the terrorist watch list from buying assault weapons.
