Iraqis with special immigrant visas who worked with the U.S. military have been caught in the middle of President Donald Trump's temporary ban, a matter now being taken up by Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to several reports.
Mattis, recently appointed to his position, is putting together a list of those Iraqis he believes should be exempt from Trump's ban.
"Even people that are doing seemingly benign things in support of us — whether as a linguist, a driver, anything else — they often do that at great personal risk," Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told the Los Angeles Times on Monday. "So people who take these risks are really making a tangible signal of support to the United States, and that's something that will, and should be, recognized."
Trump signed an executive order Friday prohibiting foreigners from seven countries from entering the country for at least 90 days to tighten up the vetting program. Those countries are Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. The order also bars Syrian refugees from entering the U.S., and indefinitely halts the refugee program.
"We recognize that people who served this country, we should help them out," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a briefing. "But that doesn't just give them a pass."
Iraq retaliated Monday against Trump's ban by approving reciprocity measures that will apply to Americans seeking admission to its country – there are about 5,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
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