A controversial executive order banning foreign nationals from entering the United States has the backing of two local federal lawmakers, while a third says the action is “contrary to our values and our security.”

President Donald Trump issued an order that bars immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, suspends refugee admission for 120 days and indefinitely restricts Syrian refugees, a move that caused many people to be detained at airports across the country and protests to break out across the country.

“The first duty of the federal government is to ensure the safety of American residents and our families,” U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., told The Era on Tuesday.

Thompson said officials want to ensure that everyone entering the United States is properly vetted, so possible terrorists or individuals who would back terrorism can be discovered before doing harm.

But U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said that, if the news reports are true, children retreating from the barrel bombing in Syria, women and girls fleeing human-rights violations in Sudan and Somalia, and brave people who risked their lives to work with American troops in Iraq, would be turned away.

“Preventing these vulnerable people from resettling in the U.S. as refugees does nothing to make our nation safer,” Casey said. “Further, lowering the level of overall resettlement will make it harder on our allies who are already absorbing the bulk of the refugees fleeing conflicts around the world. This reported executive action appears to be driven by politics and discrimination, not by recommendations from national security professionals.”

For his part, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said it is key that the United States finds a middle ground in defending Americans from the deadly threat of international terrorism and provides a safe spot for innocent refugees looking for peace and freedom.

“We know that ISIS is attempting to infiltrate the West through refugee programs,” Thompson said. “This has happened in Europe already, and I believe the intent of this executive order was to strengthen the screening process.”

The utmost priority is to keep the United States safe, and that means eliminating terrorist networks and making sure individuals offered refugee status are put through the most rigorous screening as possible, Casey said. Compared to any other traveler to the United States, refugee applicants are subject to the highest level of security checks, he said.

Toomey said he also supports boosting the vetting process.

“Terrorists have successfully infiltrated refugee populations entering Europe and gone on to commit heinous acts of barbarity,” he said. “I have long been concerned about our ability to distinguish between predominantly peaceful and innocent refugees, and the likely rare, but lethal, terrorists in the midst of those refugees coming from terror havens and lawless lands.”

For his part, Casey said the process involves 18 to 24 months of review and a screening by the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center and the departments of Homeland Security, Defense and State.

“This robust process includes biographic and biometric analysis. I am open to and have voted for ways to strengthen refugee screening in order to keep America safe, but these actions won’t make our nation measurably safer — they will just move us further away from the promise of America,” Casey said.

Although Toomey supports the ban, he considered the initial executive order flawed. The order was too broad and poorly explained, he said.

“This apparently resulted in denied entry into the United States for lawful permanent residents and others who should have been allowed immediate entry,” Toomey said. “Fortunately, the administration has clarified that this order does not apply to Green Card holders and that the secretaries of State and Homeland Security have the ability to grant exceptions which certainly should apply to, among others, foreign nationals who served the U.S. military in various support roles.”

Thompson said he does harbor some concerns about what he called an “unintended consequence that negatively impacted lawful residents, such as green card holders, and firmly believe they should be allowed to enter and exit the country under the law.”

“If anything, we learned under the Obama Administration that the executive alone cannot run the country, the legislative branch must be involved in providing an adequate solution that respects the rule of law and our American ideals,” Thompson said.