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Senator Rand Paul—not to be confused with his father, former Congressman Ron Paul or Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who could stand to use the French system of capitalization to make his last name more discrete—believes he has the solution to the terrorist threat in the United States: limit the access of the French to immigration.
The Republican presidential candidate is proposing to establish an “immediate moratorium” on the issuance of U.S. visas to nationals that hail from countries with a “significant jihadist movement.” Paul also wants tourists and students who want to come to the U.S. to be put under harsher scrutiny—especially the French.
“I think our biggest entry for those who would attack us is coming to visit, basically, coming as a refugee or coming as a visitor or coming as a student,” the candidate told Fox News on Wednesday. “We also have to be concerned about French citizens coming here. Most of the people involved in the attack, I think, are going to turn out to be French citizens. …I would stop that. I would say nobody comes unless they’re part of Global Entry.”
Global Entry is a U.S. program that allows low-risk, pre-approved travelers to benefit from lighter border security to enter the United States. Nearly two million people are part of the pogram. Those who aren’t part of Global Entry are constrained by a thirty-day waiting period while immigration officials process background checks. The Kentucky Senator, well known for his isolationist policies, is currently polling at around 5% in the Republican primaries.
In the event of a Paul presidency, the French may be better off not coming to the United States: on Tuesday, the senator told a group of students at the University of Minnesota that they “don’t have a right to pants,” among other entitlements like shoes, chairs, healthcare, and water.
