Travel ban order

I applaud the recent federal court order staying the enforcement of President Trump’s second travel ban order.

Although he has extensive discretion in this area, the president is prohibited by federal statute and the Constitution from exercising that discretion in a way that discriminates against people because of their religious faith. And that is exactly what Trump has done — just as he promised before the election.

During the campaign, Trump vilified Muslims as a terrorist threat to the United States and promised to ban Muslims from entering this country “until we find out what the hell is going on.”

And this order makes good on that promise — it bars from entering the United States any resident of six countries, each with a 90 percent Muslim population.

Contrary to Trump’s claim, there is no evidence that these six countries represent a terrorist threat to the United States.

Both of Trump’s travel bans in reality are Muslim bans, and both are contrary to our law.

This story was originally published March 18, 2017 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Travel ban order."