ISIS Reacts To Trump Muslim Travel Ban: Islamic State Group Calls Immigration Order A Gift For Terrorists, Compares To Iraq War Invasion

The Islamic State group has welcomed the news of President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from traveling to the United States, the Washington Post reported. The global terror group also known as ISIS insisted Sunday that the policy was evidence that America was at war with Islam.

A post on a pro-ISIS news channel on the social media platform Telegram described the ban as ‘blessed’ because it could encourage Americans to side with extremists. The post about Trump’s recent immigration ban was similar to the reaction Islamic militant leaders had with the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which they also characterized as “a blessed invasion” that would provoke anti-Western sentiments throughout the Islamic world.

One Islamic State supporter posted on the Telegram channel that the Muslim ban was “the best caller to Islam” in hopes it would inspire some Americans to join their cause. Another user said the travel ban “clearly revealed the truth and harsh reality behind the American government’s hatred toward Muslims.”

Multiple other posts on the news channel predicted it wouldn't be long until Trump decided to launch another war in the Middle East. One post suggested Trump’s executive order fulfilled the predictions of the American-born al-Qaeda leader and preacher, Anwar al-Awlaki, who famously said the “West would eventually turn against its Muslim citizens.”

Awlaki was killed in 2011 by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.

The theory floated by ISIS was seemingly validated by a fellow from the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.

“[The ban] plays into this clash of civilizations idea, which is something that global jihadis need as fuel, to claim Americans are against them, that the West is against them,” Dr. Renad Mansour told The Independent.

Riots erupted across the U.S. over the weekend after Trump signed the executive order Friday barring the citizens of Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Iran from entering the United States for a period of 90 days on the grounds of national security. At least 109 people were detained at U.S. airports across the country and were denied entry, according to the New York Times Monday. They were reportedly released from detention Monday morning. Another 173 people were denied entry at foreign airports before boarding their planes for the U.S.