Kentucky Senator Rand Paul responded to the attack by terrorist Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov by calling for a tighter vetting process and a merit-based immigration policy on Wednesday.
Paul found himself agreeing with President Donald Trump who tweeted that Saipov entered the U.S. on the “Diversity Visa Lottery” program, and wishes to move to a more merit-based program.
“I like the idea of what President Trump is talking about,” said Paul, “that people should come to our country based on merit.”
Paul also wants to be sure that those who do immigrate here fall in with the beliefs of religious freedom, and allegiance to the country they’re immigrating to, and allegiance to the ideas that country represents.
“Do you believe in freedom of religion? Do you believe that anybody should be able to practice openly their religion? Are you tolerant of other people’s religion? Will you pledge allegiance to our flag, and to our country if you come here?” said Paul, listing off examples.
“If you can’t answer all those questions well, and if you don’t have a sponsor, and if you’re not coming here because you don’t have a skill we want, then I don’t think we should have an open border to the world,” said Paul.
Paul said he agrees with Trump about how certain countries are such hotbeds for terrorists and have so little vetting ability that it would be wise to stop certain countries from sending people into America.
“It’s not like you have a right to move to our country,” said Paul.
Paul: "Maybe we should stop certain countries from sending people here for awhile. It's not like you have a right to move to our country." pic.twitter.com/bUFASmZAYE
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 1, 2017
Paul is, of course, referring to Trump’s travel restrictions on certain countries that are known producers of terrorists. These countries include state sponsors of terrorism, Iran, Sudan, and Syria.
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