Donald Trump's deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka has defended the president's travel ban as a "security imperative" during an interview with GB News.
Gorka explained that the measure targets nations unable to verify whether their citizens travelling to America are terrorists or tourists.
"We had to do this," Gorka told the People's Channel, describing himself as part of the decision-making process eight years ago.
He emphasised that the ban addresses countries that are either incapable of providing information about their citizens' safety for travel or have abused the US visa system.
Sebastian Gorka said Trump's travel ban is 'imperative'
GB NEWS / REUTERS
Gorka referenced threat assessments inherited from the Obama administration, which identified seven nations that "couldn't tell us which of their citizens coming to visit America were terrorists or simply tourists".
He explained that President Trump has tasked several cabinet members, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also acting National Security Adviser, and Homeland Security Secretary Governor Noem, to conduct a new threat assessment.
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The assessment aims to identify countries that cannot verify their citizens' backgrounds or have exploited the American visa system.
"It's the logic of promises kept," Gorka stated, linking the current measures to previous security concerns.
Gorka joined Matt Goodwin on GB News
GB NEWS
Gorka cited a specific incident in Colorado to illustrate the security risks posed by visa overstays. He described how an Egyptian national who entered America on a tourist visa remained in the country illegally for three years.
"This isn't funny because we look at the attack in Colorado, that Egyptian came here, signed a piece of paper saying 'I'm coming here for four weeks as a tourist' and three years later, he's trying to immolate survivors of the Holocaust with Molotov cocktails," Gorka said.
He stressed that visa overstays represent more than administrative violations. "This isn't just theoretical visa overstays as a protocol problem. It's a security imperative," he told GB News.
President Trump signed an executive order banning travel from twelve countries, citing the recent terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado as a contributing factor.
He has also vowed to bring back his "Muslim travel ban", banning people travelling from a number of Muslim countriesREUTERSThe affected nations include Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
In a video posted across his social media accounts, Trump stated: "We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen."
The measure echoes Trump's 2017 travel ban, which initially targeted seven predominantly Muslim countries before being revised following legal challenges. A version was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
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