STATEN ISLAND — While thousands of protesters joined dozens of elected officials to speak out against President Donald Trump's refugee ban over the weekend, the city's only Republican official in Washington was all for it.
Rep. Dan Donovan, who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, lauded Trump's executive order that bans travelers from seven predominately Muslim countries, saying it's in "America's best interest."
"We are and should continue to be a compassionate nation, but we must balance our compassion with security interests," Donovan said in a statement.
"The FBI director said to the Homeland Security Committee, on which I sit, that we cannot properly vet people from war-torn countries, and we know ISIS will use refugee flows to infiltrate the West.
"President Trump's decision is in America's best interest, and I support exploring safe zones in the region to protect innocent life."
The executive order, signed by Trump on Friday with reportedly little legal review, bans travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.
It also blocks refugees from Syria from entering the US indefinitely and refugees from the other countries for 120 days.
In a longer version of the statement posted on his Facebook page, Donovan stressed that the order would only be put in place temporarily while the government makes sure "the proper checks are in place to protect our nation from terrorists," though no attacks on U.S. soil have been linked to extremists from the seven countries in the ban since Sept. 11.
The order led to the detention of as many as 52 people flying into John F. Kennedy airport over the weekend, including several who had green cards or visas. As of Monday, one person was still detained, immigration lawyers said.
The order was met with widespread criticism across the country and a Brooklyn federal judge on Saturday blocked the deportation of people with refugee applications, valid visas and green cards.
In his statement, Donovan said he would work to make sure the ban doesn't hamper people with valid visas and green cards from gaining access into the country.
Donovan took heat for his statement on his Facebook page with hundreds of commenters criticizing him for his support.
