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Eastern Washington Congresswoman Comments Three Days After Immigration Ban

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers
U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers

Washington's Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has weighed in on the Trump administration’s executive order that bans immigrants and refugees from entering the U.S..

“I want to say, for those that have been impacted, that I am sympathetic and it’s really unfortunate the way that it was rolled out and the confusion around it,” McMorris Rodgers said during a morning talk show on Spokane’s AM radio station KXLY Tuesday. “The intent of the executive order is one that I support.”

The Northwest congressional delegation has responded to the immigration order along party lines, with Democrats speaking earliest and most stridently against it. Some Republicans this week criticized the results of the order without being directly critical of President Trump or his intent.

McMorris Rodgers told KXLY she believes the vetting process for foreigners who enter the United States needs to be more robust. She said she has heard from universities, colleges and individuals in Eastern Washington concerned by the ban.

Some constituents used social media to ask McMorris Rodgers what she thought about the president’s executive order, but she did not respond. The congresswoman’s office also hasn’t released an official statement.

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Emily Schwing
Emily Schwing comes to the Inland Northwest by way of Alaska, where she covered social and environmental issues with an Arctic spin as well as natural resource development, wildlife management and Alaska Native issues for nearly a decade. Her work has been heard on National Public Radio’s programs like “Morning Edition” and “All things Considered.” She has also filed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and various programs produced by the BBC and the CBC. She has also filed stories for Scientific American, Al Jazeera America and Arctic Deeply.