Scott promises to fight Trump orders

Gov. Phil Scott. File photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger

Republican Gov. Phil Scott, Congressman Peter Welch, D-Vt., and T.J. Donovan, the Vermont attorney general, say the order is immoral and possibly unconstitutional.

Scott issued a strongly worded rebuke of the president’s order suspending the nation’s refugee resettlement program for 120 days and indefinitely barring Syrian refugees from entering the country.

He spoke in Rutland on Monday where up to 100 refugees from Syria and Iraq were to be settled in the coming weeks. Trump’s ban indefinitely halts the resettlement of refugees in Rutland until the federal government determines that their admission is “consistent with the national interest.” The first two families arrived earlier this month, but officials say they may now be the last.

Scott said that he held a special meeting with his Cabinet on Sunday to discuss measures his administration can take to protect the rights of all Vermonters, including refugees.

“We’re going to push back,” Scott said. “I just don’t think it’s right. I don’t think it’s acceptable. It’s not who we are as Vermonters, it’s not who we are as Americans. And I think we should be more accepting. I think this infringes upon our constitutional right.”

Trump’s order bars entry to green card holders from Sudan, Libya, Syria, Iran, Somalia, Iraq and Yemen, all of which are predominantly Muslim countries, from entering the United States for 90 days, during which time the Department of Homeland Security and State Department will review the visa adjudication program.

In a statement issued late afternoon Monday, Scott said his administration would not enter into agreements that ask governors or local officials to carry out immigration enforcement functions. He underscored that law enforcement officials in Vermont would not be asked to perform any duties that “may ultimately be deemed unconstitutional” and also suggested that his office, in coordination with the Vermont Attorney General and other states, would be exploring a legal challenge to the orders under the Fourth Amendment and the 10th Amendment. Scott also called for the creation of a Civil Rights and Criminal Justice Cabinet to review and monitor the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Scott said the president’s executive order crossed legal and ethical lines, and he took exception to the withholding of federal money from states that refuse to enforce Trump’s new immigration policies.

He applauded federal courts that issued emergency injunctions allowing green card holders to enter the country. The injunctions temporarily prevented the government from deporting refugees and immigrants who had arrived at U.S. airports last weekend.

Scott deflected a question about whether he thought the order was a Muslim ban, as many critics have characterized it, but said that wasn’t the important point.

“I just feel whether you’re Muslim or Christian it doesn’t matter,” Scott said. “We have an obligation to help.”

American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont Executive Director James Lyall and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., speak out against President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration. Photo by Morgan True/VTDigger

‘A de facto ban on Muslims’

Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., repeatedly called the order a religious test and a de facto ban on Muslim immigration in a Monday news conference in Burlington.

The congressman said that during his time in office no act by the United States “has been so damaging to the tradition of religious liberty and open acceptance of people who are seeking asylum as this order by President Trump.”

Welch said that when he returned to the Capitol he will co-sponsor legislation that would overturn the order, restrict funding to the Department of Homeland Security to enforce the order, and grant waivers to asylum seekers who have aided U.S. military operations abroad.

The legislation will face an “uphill battle” in the Republican-dominated Congress, Welch said, but many House Republicans he has spoken with are equally dismayed by the order.

Welch recently met with the Syrian families in Rutland and said they faced “years of hardship and horror” followed by two years of vetting to gain entry to the United States. They sought to escape the civil war in Syria and a new life for their children in the United States.

“We’re willing to require that there be vetting, but we’re not willing to impose a religious test,” he said.

Welch said he believes the order to be a ban on Muslim immigration based on Trump’s call for such a ban during the campaign. The president has also said Christian refugees will be given priority when the asylum program resumes, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told CNN on Friday that he helped Trump find legal grounds for a Muslim ban.

Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan has opposed Trump’s immigration order along with a group of 16 state attorneys general who said in a statement they expect the order will eventually be struck down. The top law enforcement officials applauded judges who blocked the order last weekend.

“We will use all of the tools of our offices to fight this unconstitutional order and preserve our nation’s national security and core values,” the attorneys general said in a statement.

The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, James Lyall, who joined Welch at the news conference, also strongly condemned Trump’s order.

“Make no mistake, this is the beginning of an attempt to radically change the direction of this country,” Lyall said. “The good news is that the law is on our side. It’s time for the courts to step up, for our institutions to step up, and for the American people to step up.”

The ACLU of Vermont is prepared to offer legal counsel to Vermont residents affected by the order or any other actions taken by the Trump administration that might infringe on people’s rights, Lyall said. He encouraged people to contact the ACLU if they believe their rights or the rights of someone they know are being violated. The national group brought lawsuits over the weekend that prompted injunctions.

Lyall said no Vermont residents affected by the travel ban have reached out to his office directly but that several attorneys had contacted him on behalf of clients.

Travelers to Vermont run into trouble

Several travelers attempting to return to Vermont have been affected by the order.

Erin Jacobsen, an attorney with the South Royalton Legal Clinic at Vermont Law School, said a client returning from Iran on Saturday was detained at Newark International Airport.

Jacobsen was working with lawyers on the ground in Newark to draft a habeus corpus petition when a judge in Brooklyn issued a temporary stay preventing deportation of refugees or people with valid visas who arrive at U.S. airports. That happened around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, and Jacobsen’s client, who has conditional permanent residency, made it through customs shortly after.

Conditional permanent residents receive a temporary green card through marriage that is valid for two years. At the end of the two-year period the cardholder has to apply for permanent residency. According to Jacobsen, her client’s fate remains unclear. If immigration officials stop adjudicating applications from the seven blacklisted countries, her legal status may be affected.

“If that happens, her application for permanent residency would be put on indefinite hold,” Jacobsen said.

The legal clinic also has a number of Syrian clients who will not be allowed to travel and whose asylum applications now appear to be in limbo.

At Middlebury College, an administrator said assistant professor of religion Ata Anzali is in Iran on sabbatical doing research and had purchased tickets to fly home in anticipation of the travel ban. He was scheduled to fly to John F. Kennedy International Airport over the weekend. When it became evident that even travelers with green cards were not being allowed into the country, Anzali decided to stay in Iran, said Dean of Faculty Andrea Lloyd.

Anzali is an Iranian citizen with a green card and has worked at the college for several years, Lloyd said. His wife and two children, one of whom holds dual Iranian and American citizenship, are with him.

Lloyd, who spoke with Anzali on Monday afternoon, said he was weighing his options as the policy implications play out.

“He’s asking himself what would it mean for his kids to have the experience of coming to the country they consider home and be turned away or watch your father being turned away,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd said the college was still working to determine if there were any students currently abroad who might be affected by the executive order.

The University of Vermont issued a statement saying it is not aware of any students, faculty or staff from the seven countries named in the order who are outside the country and unable to return.

Fewer than two dozen people from those countries with valid visas are currently on campus, the statement said. They are being advised not to travel outside the U.S. during the next 90 days — the time period identified in the order.

“We continue to monitor the situation closely, and will steadfastly and vigorously support and protect members of our university community to the maximum extent allowed by the Constitution and federal and state laws,” said Enrique Corredera, UVM news and public affairs director.

Scott administration actions

The Scott administration is taking the following steps “to defend and protect the Constitution, and the civil rights and safety of all Vermonters”:

1. The Governor has directed his legal counsel to coordinate with the Vermont Attorney General’s office – and other states – to assess the constitutionality of the executive orders, specifically the impact of the broad policy proclamations contained in the border security and immigration enforcement orders on the Fourth and Tenth Amendments, for the purpose of exploring a legal challenge to the orders.

2. The Governor will immediately convene a Civil Rights and Criminal Justice Cabinet, charged with further review of the Executive Orders. The Civil Rights and Criminal Justice Cabinet will identify areas that are not in compliance with current state or Constitutional law and make recommendations to the Governor. This Cabinet will include the Governor’s legal counsel, Secretary of Human Services, Secretary of Agriculture, Commissioner of Public Safety, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Senate Pro Tem, House Speaker, State’s Attorneys Office Executive Director, Defender General, a mayor designated by the Vermont Mayor’s Coalition, and representative leaders from the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police, and Vermont Sheriffs’ Association.

3. The Governor will elect not to enter the agreements suggested under the border security and immigration enforcement orders, which ask Governors and local officials to carry out immigration enforcement functions. Further, he will seek legislation and support from lawmakers to prohibit local officials from entering such agreements with the Federal government. This action will not prohibit law enforcement officers’ ability to uphold the law, but it will ensure they are not carrying out additional actions under the executive order that may ultimately be deemed unconstitutional or infringe on the rights of Vermonters or the rights of Vermont as a sovereign State.
4. The Administration is reaching out to the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security for further clarification on each of these orders, and how they relate to Vermont’s sizable refugee and immigrant populations.

5. The Administration is coordinating with refugee program administrators and stakeholders within impacted industries to keep them informed on its efforts, address concerns, and communicate impact.