Trump’s signs two executive actions on security issues

World Today

Another day in Washington and more executive actions by the new U.S. President: One aimed at beefing up the U.S. military and the other designed to keep people from certain Muslim majority countries out of the United States.

CGTN’s Jim Spellman reports.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed two executive actions. The first, expands the nation’s military and calls for increased troop totals. The U.S. military currently has about 1.3 million active duty members.

According to draft copies of the action, the Pentagon will have 30 days to put together new recommendations for fighting ISIL and one year to put together a new national security plan that will modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal and enhance cyber warfare capabilities.

The second action limits immigration from predominately Muslim countries through what Trump calls “extreme vetting.” The goal is to stop foreign terrorists from entering the U.S. “We want to ensure we aren’t admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas,” said Trump.

Draft copies of that measure would temporarily block all refugees from entering the U.S. and indefinitely stop refugees from war torn Syria. All visa applications from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen would be denied until new vetting procedures could be put in place.

Critics say the measure unfairly targets Muslims. The only refugees allowed into the U.S. would be a small group of religious minorities, mostly Christians from Muslim-majority countries. The order also calls for the establishment of so called safe zones in Syria, or nearby countries, where Syrians displaced by the civil war can stay until it is safe for them to return to Syria, or are resettled in another country. Just not in the U.S. at least for now.