Veterans Groups Denounce Friday’s Executive Order

Veterans’ groups across the country are speaking out against President Trump’s executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. Many individuals who have been illegally detained as a result of the order were traveling to the United States under the “Special Immigrant Visa” program, which protects interpreters and other local civilians who provided support for U.S. troops and now face persecution in their home countries.

“It is heartbreaking to hear that the immigration freeze has impacted the Special Immigrant Visa program,” said John Rowan, National President and CEO of Vietnam Veterans of America. “Men and women of my generation have lived with 50 years of regret from having left behind the loyal Vietnamese who served alongside us in combat when our war came to an end. Many of them were slaughtered, others tortured and sent to so-called re-education camps. We cannot allow history to repeat itself and let this executive action inflict another generation of troops with a lifetime of guilt by allowing ISIS and the Taliban to kill our friends.”

Steve Kennedy, a Connecticut Team Leader for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, shared Rowan’s concerns. “As an Army infantryman who served in Iraq, my safety and the safety of my unit depended on the bravery and selfless sacrifice of the Iraqi interpreters who worked side by side with us,” said Kennedy. “These brave men and women risked not only their lives, but the lives of their families to protect American troops. Turning our backs on them when they need us most is shameful, discriminatory, and contrary to the American ideals I fought overseas to protect.”

Veterans for American Ideals (VFAI), an organization that promotes policies to uphold the American values for which veterans fought, is currently fighting to expand and extend the Special Immigrant Visa program.

“In joining the military, we raised our right hands and took an oath to defend our country and its values,” said Scott Cooper, Founder and Director of VFAI. “Among the highest of American values is our enduring commitment to protecting the dignity and freedoms of all people, regardless of their national origin or faith. As a group of veterans of all political views, we believe that America is strongest when our policies and actions reflect our ideals. This Order, which amounts to a ban on Muslims, goes against our most deeply held values and beliefs.”

Rory Minnis ’17, a former Marine and third year law-student in Yale Law School’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic, also voiced concern that this policy goes against America’s principles.

“By turning the holders of these Special Immigrant visas away, we signal to the world that the United States no longer keeps her promises,” said Minnis. “The damage to American credibility endangers our troops and diplomats overseas, and undermines the values that I and my fellow Marines fought for. Far from keeping America safe, President Trump’s executive undermines the safety of U.S. troops and frustrates their ability to carry out the difficult missions we entrust to their care.”

Accordingly, these national veterans’ groups urge the U.S. government to rescind this Executive Order and keep its commitments to interpreters and other Iraqi nationals who have put their lives and their families’ lives at risk to help U.S. troops.