On December 7, 2015, Donald Trump's presidential campaign issued one of the most controversial policy proposals of the Republican primary.
The statement was titled “Donald J. Trump Statement on Preventing Muslim Immigration.”
Its opening sentence left little ambiguity about what Trump was proposing:
“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.”
Trump wasn't proposing additional screening based solely on nationality or travel history.
His campaign was proposing excluding people based on their Muslim faith.
The announcement immediately became a national and international political controversy.
Five Days After San Bernardino
Trump's proposal came during a period of intense concern about terrorism.
Five days earlier, on December 2, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik had killed 14 people and wounded others in a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.
The attack was subsequently investigated as an act of terrorism.
On December 6, President Barack Obama addressed the country from the Oval Office, discussing the terrorist threat and warning Americans against treating Muslims as enemies.
The following day, Trump issued his proposal.
“Until Our Country's Representatives Can Figure Out What Is Going On”
The Trump campaign described the proposed prohibition as temporary but did not provide an end date.
Instead, the statement said it should remain in effect until government officials could determine “what is going on.”
The campaign cited polling that it claimed demonstrated hostility toward Americans among portions of the Muslim population.
Trump said:
“Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine.”
He argued that the country needed to understand the threat before allowing additional Muslims to enter.
The proposal was sweeping.
Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said it would apply not merely to immigrants seeking permanent residency but also to Muslims attempting to enter the country as visitors.
Trump Takes the Proposal to a Rally
Later that day, Trump appeared before supporters in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
He read the proposal from the stage.
This time, Trump added an extra word:
“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.”
The crowd applauded.
Trump followed with:
“We have no choice.”
The proposal was no longer merely a campaign press release.
Trump had placed it at the center of his campaign message.
Republicans Condemn the Proposal
The reaction from Republican leaders and Trump's presidential rivals was immediate.
Jeb Bush rejected the proposal.
Marco Rubio opposed it.
Chris Christie rejected it.
Lindsey Graham strongly condemned it.
House Speaker Paul Ryan subsequently said the proposal did not represent the principles of the Republican Party or the country.
Mike Pence, then governor of Indiana and not yet Trump's running mate, also criticized the proposal, calling efforts to prohibit Muslims from entering the United States “offensive and unconstitutional.”
The disagreement exposed a widening divide inside the Republican Party.
Trump was proposing something many prominent Republicans were unwilling to support.
But Trump was also leading the Republican presidential race.
Questions About How It Would Work
The announcement immediately raised practical and legal questions.
How would immigration officers determine someone's religion?
Would travelers simply be asked?
Would the government investigate religious affiliations?
Would the policy apply to diplomats?
Business travelers?
Students?
Athletes?
Members of foreign militaries?
Muslim allies of the United States?
And what would happen to Muslim Americans who traveled abroad and attempted to return?
Trump's campaign provided some clarification about immigrants and foreign visitors, but many questions about the proposal's implementation remained unresolved.
Supporters Saw a Security Measure
Trump and his supporters framed the proposal as an extraordinary response to an extraordinary security threat.
ISIS had carried out or inspired terrorist attacks internationally.
The November 2015 Paris attacks had killed 130 people.
Then came San Bernardino.
Trump argued that the existing immigration and screening systems could not adequately identify every potential extremist.
From that perspective, temporarily stopping Muslim entry was presented as a precaution while the government developed better methods of identifying threats.
Critics saw something fundamentally different.
They argued that the proposal treated members of an entire religion as potential security threats because of the actions of extremists.
The dispute therefore became about more than immigration.
It raised questions about national security, religious liberty and how the United States should respond to terrorism.
Another Political Boundary Had Been Crossed
Trump had already challenged numerous assumptions about what a presidential candidate could say and remain viable.
He had attacked John McCain's status as a war hero.
He had engaged in a prolonged feud with Megyn Kelly.
He had faced criticism over his remarks about Mexican immigrants.
He had been accused of mocking reporter Serge Kovaleski's disability, something Trump denied.
Now Trump was proposing that the United States prevent members of one of the world's largest religions from entering the country.
Once again, political leaders condemned him.
Once again, Trump did not withdraw the proposal.
And once again, his presidential campaign continued.
From Campaign Proposal to a Larger National Debate
The December 7 announcement became one of the defining policy controversies of Trump's first presidential campaign.
Trump's immigration and national-security proposals would evolve during the remainder of the campaign.
After becoming president in January 2017, Trump issued executive actions restricting entry from several countries and suspending refugee admissions.
Those presidential actions were not identical to the blanket religious prohibition proposed in December 2015, and they became the subject of extensive litigation and subsequent revisions.
But the political debate surrounding them had an unmistakable predecessor.
On December 7, 2015, Donald Trump had publicly proposed something that would have seemed extraordinary in a modern American presidential campaign:
A “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”
And despite widespread condemnation from within his own party, Trump remained at the center of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.