Ron Ramsey’s Tennessee Spin on Trump’s Muslim Immigration Stand

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey is calling for a moratorium on all immigration from countries he says have "ties to terrorism."

Ramsey’s comments Tuesday follow a call by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to block all Muslims from entering the United States that has been widely condemned by rival Republican presidential candidates, party leaders and others.

Ramsey said he would not support an "explicitly religious test" for immigration. He didn’t specify in his statement which countries he’d include in his ban, other than that it’s a "long list."

During Ramsey’s failed 2010 bid for governor, he suggested that Islam might be more of a cult than a religion.

Federal courts – including the U.S. Supreme Court – have upheld that immigration and admission of noncitizens to the United States is a federal responsibility and one managed wholly by the federal government.

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