Donald Trump’s latest comments on immigration, including his call for an “ideological test” for admission to the United States, drew criticism Monday from an East Providence lawyer familiar with the existing immigration system and from two others who are knowledgeable about challenges faced by Muslim immigrants. The lawyer, Roberto Gonzalez, said Trump’s comments were not surprising and are in sync with the candidate’s general pursuit of raising barriers to block foreigners who are not white western Europeans. Meanwhile, Trump’s proposals for specifically questioning prospective immigrants about ideology, tolerance and values are nothing new, Gonzalez said. “The problem for what he’s saying is we already screen for all those things,” Gonzalez said, adding that refugees, for example, from the Middle East are already “triple and quadruple vetted” to the point that the process can take years.
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