In response to President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily halting immigrants from seven terror-prone countries, the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, L.I., say they were “appalled” by the action.

“Women and men religious have been blessed to accompany and serve immigrant and refugee communities across this country throughout their histories. In keeping with our collaborative corporate stance taken on May 4, 2011 with the Northeast Dominicans on the need for immigration reform, we do not see that halting or undermining the U.S. refugee resettlement program is the way. It leaves mostly women and children in extreme danger as they flee their homes due to unspeakable violence. We remain committed to welcoming refugees who come here after passing through the U.S. government’s screening process and we call for creating legal avenues for migration, avenues that assure family unity for immigrant/refugee families.”

They said that the president’s order “is unconscionable in the face of the current unprecedented global refugee crisis. … This executive order harkens back to the darker moments of our own history of slavery and internment camps. It damages our reputation in the eyes of the many peoples who want to know America as a defender of human rights and religious liberty, not as a nation that targets religious populations and then shuts it doors on them.”