DHS Predicts Travel Ban Will Be Reinstated

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly said he predicts President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily barring refugees from seven terrorist-compromised nations will eventually be reinstated.

Kelly told the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, according to the Washington Post, that the temporary travel ban for migrants in those seven nations would eventually be put back in place once judges realize it is a national security issue, rather than an “academic” one.

“Of course, in their courtrooms, they’re protected by people like me,” Kelly told the Committee.

Kelly did clarify, though, that he was not necessarily criticizing any particular judge, saying “I have nothing but respect for our judges, but they live in a different world than I do.”

Since Federal District Court Judge James Robart stopped Trump’s travel ban just last week, Kelly said it is “entirely possible” for foreign attackers or terrorists to be entering or trying to enter the U.S. through the seven nations which were previously restricted.

Kelly said he may not be able to identify a dangerous foreign national who entered as a refugee since the travel ban was lifted until possibly after they have harmed or attempted to harm Americans.

The travel ban took hits in the mainstream media for the way it was rolled out, and Kelly says he may have done it differently looking back.

“In retrospect, I should have — this is all on me, by the way — I should have delayed it just a bit, so that I could talk to members of Congress, particularly the leadership of committees like this, to prepare them for what was coming, although I think most people would agree that this has been a topic of President Trump certainly during his campaign and during the transition process,” Kelly told the Committee.

Trump has vowed to fight Judge Robart’s decision on the travel ban in U.S. federal court.

John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.