Kellyanne Conway defends Muslim ban, says judge's temporary stay doesn't affect order

Impact

Following the protests and global outrage sparked by President Donald Trump's executive order restricting entry to the United States from seven majority-Muslim countries, senior adviser Kellyanne Conway defended the order, calling it a "small price to pay."

Conway praised the executive order in an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News, and sharply dismissed the decision of the federal judge who granted a stay in response to the executive order. The stay prevents U.S. officials from detaining those who have already arrived in U.S. airports with a valid U.S. visa.

"The [federal judge's] stay of order doesn't really affect the executive order at all," Conway said, "because the executive order is meant to be prospective, it's preventing, not detaining."

Conway then said the order is worth it for the sake of national security.

"You're talking about 325,000 people from overseas came into this country just yesterday through our airports," Conway said. "You're talking about 300 and some who have been detained or are prevented from gaining access to an aircraft in their home countries and must stay for now."

"That's one percent," Conway continued. "And I think in terms of the upside being greater protection of our borders, of our people, it's a small price to pay."

Conway's claim that the restriction would result in "greater protection of our borders, of our people," though, is false.

While Conway points to the 300 people currently detained or unable to travel as a "small price" to pay, the total impact of Trump's ban has a far wider reach. The American people that Conway claims the executive order will benefit includes the 781,235 legal U.S. residents (as of 2012) who hail from one of the seven affected countries, who will now feel under threat, rather than protected, by the U.S. government. These numbers can also be expanded to include these residents' families, both in the U.S. and their home countries, and the 3.3 million Muslim Americans (as of 2015) who now likely feel personally targeted by the president of the United States.

Additionally, ISIS's goal is to wage a war between Islam and the West, and Trump is playing right into their hand. ISIS channels are allegedly already using Trump's decision as propaganda, pointing out the treatment of former U.S. translators and interpreters affected by Trump's Muslim ban.

A statement issued by the Iranian government in response to Trump's executive order reiterated Trump's irresponsible goading of the terrorist group.

"Despite claims of being made to combat terrorism and protecting the people of the United States," the statement reads, "[the executive order] will be recorded in history as a great gift to extremists and their supporters."