Newly minted Secretary of State Marco Rubio wasted no time implementing President Donald Trump’s policies regarding refugees and visas to foreign nationals seeking entry into the U.S.
In one of his first official acts, Rubio ordered an immediate pause on all refugee resettlement operations and increased scrutiny of visa applicants from “dangerous regions,” Fox News reported exclusively on Tuesday.
Rubio, a former U.S. senator from Florida, cited newly signed executive orders by the president as his authority to implement the new policies.
Among more than 100 executive orders, Trump signed one aimed at “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program” and another to “[Protect] the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.”
The former directs the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) to be suspended because of the detrimental effects it has had on U.S. interests. The latter calls for increased vetting of all foreigners “to the maximum degree possible,” especially those “from regions or nations with identified security risks.”
Fox notes further that the order on refugees also notes that “the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security may jointly determine to admit aliens to the United States as refugees on a case-by-case basis, in their discretion, but only so long as they determine that the entry of such aliens as refugees is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.”
Rubio was sworn in as the 72nd secretary of state Tuesday morning, becoming the first Cabinet member in Trump’s new administration to be confirmed by the Senate.
In remarks to staffers at the department on Tuesday, Rubio said, “There will be changes, but the changes are not meant to be destructive. They’re not meant to be punitive.
“The changes will be because we need to be a 21st-century agency that can move by — a cliché that’s used by many — at the speed of relevance. But we need to move faster than we ever have because the world is changing faster than we ever have. And we have to have a view that some say is called ‘look around the corner,’” he added.
“But we really need to be thinking about where are we going to be in five, seven, 10 or 15 years. Some of the issues that confront humanity today have no precedent. They have no historic precedent. Some of the challenges we face have no historic precedent. We can compare it to another era, to another time, but they’re not the same. Things are moving faster than ever,” he explained.
Uncontrolled immigration and ‘open borders’ under the Biden-Harris regime was a major campaign theme for Trump.
During his inaugural address Monday, Trump promised, “I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted. And we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.”
Fox also reported that Rubio will travel to Panama for his first international trip as the nation’s top diplomat.
The outlet said details are still being worked out, but his visit could come as soon as next week. It would come after Trump claimed following his election that China was now essentially controlling the strategic waterway built by the U.S. in the 1930s and vowing to take it back if need be.
“China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” Trump said.
