President Trump is poised to temporarily halt the nation’s refugee program and usher in the most sweeping changes in more than 40 years to how the U.S. welcomes the world’s most vulnerable people. He would also block visa applicants entirely from a list of countries with counterterrorism concerns, including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, until a new “extreme vetting” procedure for visa applicants could be launched. The U.S. has admitted more than 3.3 million refugees since 1975, and allowed more than 80,000 refugees in last year alone. “We're going to have extreme vetting for people coming into our country and if we think there's a problem, it's not going to be so easy for people to come in anymore,” he said. “What, you think this is going to cause a little more anger?”Critics called Trump’s order a betrayal of long-held American ideals.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 27, 2017 19:09 UTC