NYC terror attack: Trump orders new clampdown on migration
Donald Trump reacts to New York’s truck attack instructing Homeland Security to further toughen restrictions on migration.
US President Donald Trump has swiftly reacted to the New York truck attack instructing the Department of Homeland Security to toughen restrictions on immigration.
The order came just hours after eight people were killed when a rental truck driven by an Uzbek migrant ploughed into pedestrians and cyclists along a bike path near the World Trade Centre.
“I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!” the President wrote on Twitter.
I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2017
Mr Trump has repeatedly used the threat of terrorist attacks to justify a tightening of immigration regulations, including halting refugee admissions and banning immigrants from certain Muslim-majority countries.
The suspected terrorist, shot by police in New York today, is a 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan who came to the United States in 2010 when Barack Obama was president.
Last week, global airlines began implementing security interviews for US-bound travellers before checking in for flights.
The president’s attempts at banning travelers from several mainly Muslim nations have been met with successive legal challenges.
His administration has announced that it would resume accepting refugees after a 120-day ban, though arrivals from 11 “high-risk” countries, most of them home to Muslim majorities, will still be blocked.
It is unclear how the President’s fresh directive will impact on the Australia-US migrant swap deal he agreed to honour with Malcolm Turnbull. The first group of 54 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru were resettled in recent weeks with processing continuing for additional refugees. Under the agreement, the US agreed to accept about 1250 people from both islands.
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said: “We continue to work with the US on the resettlement arrangement.”
The president has fired off numerous tweets in the wake of the attack.
“We must not allow ISIS to return, or enter, our country after defeating them in the Middle East and elsewhere. Enough!” Mr Trump said in his first tweet.
In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
“America must not let Islamic State jihadists return to or enter the US after they are beaten overseas,’’ President Donald Trump said hours after the deadly New York attack.
In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
Mr Trump and the First Lady, who was in New York today, offered their condolences to victims and their families.
In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
My heart breaks for #NYC today. Thoughts & prayers as we monitor the situation.
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 31, 2017
Mr Trump has also vowed his administration’s “full support” to New York City’s police department in the wake of the attack.
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