Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join others in congratulating Mr. Martin Groves on his appointment as Clerk of the Seanad. It is well deserved and I look forward to working with him.

I join other speakers in recording my strong condemnation and that of the Labour Party of the executive order issued by President Trump.Along with many thousands of others in this city, I marched on 21 January as part of the women's march to express our opposition to what we see as the sexist, misogynistic policies of President Trump. However, his actions since then, particularly over the weekend in issuing the executive order restricting immigration, have gone further. As others have said, this very much deserves an outright condemnation from those of us here who are concerned to ensure we do not see this sort of racial profiling and what amounts to an effective ban on Muslims in that it is a ban on citizens of many countries.

The executive order has implications for us in Ireland, as others have said. If one looks today at the website of the US Embassy in Ireland, one will see a notice on the front page telling anyone who is a citizen, or indeed a dual citizen, of one of the seven countries not to apply for a visa, not to continue with a visa application process already in train and to cancel an interview if one has been granted one. These are Irish citizens who also happen to be citizens of one of the seven countries named in the order. This has serious implications.

We then saw the dismissal of Sally Yates as Attorney General by Donald Trump because she took the view that she could not be sure of the lawfulness of the executive order, in particular of its effect on those who have already been through a process and who now, it appears, will be denied entry to the US. These are all very serious questions. I call on the Leader to bring the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade before this House to answer a number of questions that my colleague and our party leader, Deputy Brendan Howlin, tabled in the Dáil but which were disallowed as private notice questions today. Deputy Howlin asked that the Taoiseach outline the circumstances which led to his request for a complete review of the operation of pre-clearance facilities, in particular that he explain whether there are possible legal implications for Ireland arising from possible complicity in the implementation by US authorities of policies that may have the effect of discrimination based on race or religion.

Deputy Howlin also raised the question others have raised, namely, that the new US restrictions fly in the face of international legal obligations on each state towards asylum seekers, those seeking refuge. Therefore, I ask the Leader to bring the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade before this House this week to answer these questions. I also support my party leader's call on the Taoiseach not to attend the St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the US on 17 March if these restrictions remain in place. We all hope the US legal and democratic system is sufficiently robust. As we have seen already, a number of judges are refusing to implement the effect of the order in respect of people who have already been through visa processes. I hope we will see the executive order reversed or its effect repealed before St. Patrick's Day. However, we must take a stance as Irish people in support of our own values and against these discriminatory and highly troubling new orders emanating from President Trump.