Attorney General Xavier Becerra Issues Statement on Trump Administration's Executive Order Regarding Refugees

Saturday, January 28, 2017
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO – Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued the following statement, in response to President Donald Trump's executive order regarding refugees: 

"Justice in America doesn't live or die on the stroke of one man's pen regardless of how high his office. 

The Trump Administration's anti-religion, anti-refugee executive order is in so many ways unjust and anti-American. It discriminates against human beings based on their faith. It denies entry to those with proven and legitimate fears of death and persecution. It tramples on centuries of American tradition. 

I have conferred with my team, and we are reaching out to others as well, to find every avenue possible to defend our family members and those who live permanently in our communities who may be barred from re-entry into America. We will do all we can for refugees who have met our country's legal test for admission to escape death and persecution. We will use every tool within our authority to offer victims of the Trump Administration's overreach a fighting chance to overcome but another cruel barrier to their flight to freedom.

The Trump executive order should not stand and must be confronted as a constitutional overreach." 

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