State Department Draft Cable Protests Trump Immigration Ban by Felicia Schwartz, Jay Solomon and Maria Abi-Habib
More than 100 State Department officials have signed a draft formal protest of President Donald Trump’s immigration and refugee order that calls his policy counterproductive to U.S. antiterrorism efforts and potentially harmful to U.S. interests, department officials said.
The dissent marks an early challenge to one of Mr. Trump’s signature policies and represents a message of caution from one of the key parts of the federal bureaucracy that will be tasked with carrying out the new president’s vision.
The State Department officials are expected to submit a final version of the cable, which is a formal, confidential form of diplomatic communication. The cable is part of a “dissent channel” the department maintains that constitutes an official vehicle for diplomats and officials to voice alternative views.
Mr. Trump on Friday signed an executive order halting the nation’s refugee program for four months and banning all visitors from seven predominantly Muslim Middle Eastern and African countries for at least 90 days…