Sen. Jack Reed has joined four other senators in a letter penned to newly appointed Secretary of Defense James Mattis. The letter asks for an evaluation of President Trump’s refugee travel ban affecting seven predominantly Muslim countries.
Washington state Judge James Robart blocked President Trump’s executive order last week. The President took to Twitter saying Robart was opening the door to potential terrorists.
The administration has since filed for an appeal attempting to reinstate the ban.
Mattis is at the start of a thirty-day review of the current strategy used in efforts to defeat ISIS. Senators argue the travel ban harms national security goals by providing terrorist organizations with propaganda for recruitment.
“ISIS supporters have applauded the ban because it appears to validate their perverse claim that they are at war with a hostile, anti-Muslim West,” read the letter to the Secretary of Defense.
The senators add that the ban creates distrust among U.S. allies already committed to the fight against the terrorist group.
As a battle in the courts ensues, the letter comes at a time when the future of the executive order is unclear.
