8 Attacks on White House Terror List Involve Restricted Countries
Trump has used terrorism to justify his controversial immigration order.
— -- Only eight of the 78 attacks that appeared on a White House list of terrorist incidents over the past two years were committed by individuals from the seven countries affected by Donald Trump’s immigration order, a review of the list by ABC News shows.
The White House released the list -- which includes attacks such as those in Nice, France, which killed 84 as well as those in which there was only one injury, for instance -- to bolster its argument that the media was under-reporting on terror.
President Trump on Monday said that terror attacks have become so pervasive that the "dishonest" press no longer reports on all of them. "It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported. And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that," he said.
Trump's controversial executive order targeted immigrants and refugees from seven countries -- Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia -- suspending most travelers from those nations on a temporary basis, except Syrian refugees, who were banned indefinitely.
"Numerous foreign-born individuals have been convicted or implicated in terrorism-related crimes since September 11, 2001, including foreign nationals who entered the United States after receiving visitor, student, or employment visas, or who entered through the United States refugee resettlement program," the text of the order says.
However none of the 9/11 attackers were from the countries covered by the executive order.
On the White House's list were eight attacks where the alleged perpetrators were from the countries affected by the Trump executive order. In some cases on the list, the attackers were unidentified.
There were three additional attacks on the list perpetrated by refugees or those posing as refugees, one that occurred in the US, one in France, and another in Germany. Trump's executive order temporarily blocks all refugees pending a 120-day review of vetting procedures, except those from Syria, who are barred indefinitely.
The immigration order, entitled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States," was already subject to criticism because no attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11 have been committed by nationals from those restricted countries -- and this new list shows more of that same trend.
In fact, the list provided by the White House shows Americans were responsible for more attacks than those from the seven banned countries combined.
The controversial executive order was put on hold by a federal judge last Friday, allowing for immigration and refugee resettlement to continue as normal, a decision that was appealed by the Department of Justice.
A ruling to uphold the temporary restraining order or reinstate the ban could come as soon as this evening. If the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules to keep the restraining order in place, the case could be brought to the U.S. Supreme Court.