US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said that he would enact “extreme vetting” of immigrants.
In a speech in Ohio, the candidate outlined his plans to combat Islamic extremism, including a new screening test for arrivals to the US.
Applicants will be tested to determine if they share Western liberal values like LGBT and religious tolerance.
Democratic rival Hillary Clinton poured scorn on his plan, labelling it a “cynical ploy”.
“This so-called ‘policy’ cannot be taken seriously,” said her spokesman.
“How can Trump put this forward with a straight face when he opposes marriage equality and selected as his running mate the man [Mike Pence] who signed an anti-LGBT law in Indiana?”
Under Mr Trump’s plan, citizens from countries with a history of terror will be banned but it is not clear which nations.
In the speech, he did not lay out his own military strategy for defeating the so-called Islamic State.
But he did repeat his claim he was opposed to the Iraq War before it began, whichfact-checkers say is untrue.
And he said that the oil in Iraq should have been seized by the US government to prevent it from becoming the property of IS.
In his speech, Mr Trump promised to:
- Ban immigration from countries where terrorism is widespread and vetting is poor
- Make alliances with all countries fighting against terrorism
- Introduce an ideology test for new immigrants arriving to the US
- Keep Guantanamo Bay prison open
- Establish a presidential commission to investigate Islamic terror
- Work with Nato, despite previously calling it “obsolete”
The billionaire initially proposed a blanket ban on all Muslims but has changed it to one that is based on an unspecified list of countries that export terror.
The latest proposal includes creating an ideological test for immigrants entering the country, with questions addressing how each applicant views American values such as religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights.
“Those who do not believe in our Constitution, or who support bigotry and hatred, will not be admitted for immigration into the country,” he said.
Analysis – Aleem Maqbool, BBC News, Washington
It may have been vague on the details of how IS will be defeated militarily, how extremists would be stopped from accessing the internet or how immigrants that share American values would be separated from those who do not, but this speech would have gone down well with his supporters.
But simply by sticking to a script and avoiding the off-the-cuff remarks that have landed him in trouble in the past, Mr Trump may also have wooed some of those Republicans who have been so desperate for him to show a more “presidential” way of doing things.
Some European diplomats in particular have expressed exasperation at the New York businessman’s foreign policy statements. But this election is not about them, it’s about crowds like the one in Ohio that loudly cheered every line of Trumpist nativism.
Mr Trump said that the test will not only expose terrorist sympathisers, but also will “screen out any who have hostile attitudes towards our country or its principles”.
He heavily criticised his rival Hillary Clinton, saying that she lacks the “mental and physical stamina” to defeat IS.
And he attacked her plan to increase the rate of Syrian refugees arrivals, which he claimed would cost $400bn (£315bn).
Mr Trump is still facing a backlash for repeatedly describing Mr Obama and his Democratic rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton, as “founders” of Islamic State.
Vice President Joe Biden speaking at a campaign event with Hillary Clinton said that Mr Trump’s claim that Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton had “founded” IS proved his views to be “dangerous” and “un-American”, and that it had made US soldiers in Iraq less safe already.
Recent polls show him significantly trailing Hillary Clinton in key battleground states.
