'Disgraceful and Callous:' Rep. Schneider Responds to Trump Executive Order

LINCOLNSHIRE, IL - Rep. Brad Schneider (D, IL-10) issued a statement in response to President Trump's executive order on immigration late Friday.

“Today’s executive order is a disgraceful and callous attempt to ban members of one religion by instituting a de facto religious test for entry. This discriminatory order does nothing to target the root causes of terrorism, does not make our country safer, and undermines the very values that define our nation."

“We are a nation founded by immigrants and refugees who were fleeing oppression and often fearful for their lives. We cannot allow fear to overwhelm our ideals and close the door on the next generation of Americans seeking refuge from war, violence, and oppression.”

Schneider, who represents portions of Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Glenview, Niles, Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights and Wheeling, was sworn into office a second time earlier this month after winning back his seat last November from former officeholder Bob Dold by more than 14,000 votes.

Trump’s Jan. 27 order, officially dubbed "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States," effectively bans most Muslim refugees from entering the US by giving special preference, "on a case-by case-basis," to applicants considered a "religious minority in [their] country of nationality facing religious persecution".