NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has called U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries “racist” and demanded that the prime minister condemn the order.

Speaking at an emergency debate Tuesday evening, Mulcair said it is Canada’s role to stand up against “people who peddle politics of fear” and asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to issue a formal statement that Canada opposes the ban.

“We have the obligation to speak out,” Mulcair said in the House of Commons.

Trump’s executive order, issued Friday, puts a 90-day freeze on all travellers to the U.S. from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan. It also suspends America’s refugee program for at least four months, a move that has left thousands in limbo.

The order sparked a wave of protests around the world, from New York City to Nunavut, and has been legally challenged by at least three U.S. states.

Trudeau tweeted Saturday that Canadians will welcome those fleeing “persecution, terror and war … regardless of your faith.”

Speaking to Trudeau’s tweet, Mulcair questioned the prime minister’s response, saying, “Is that our foreign policy?”

He ended by suggesting that the Liberals haven’t done enough to call out Trump’s actions using harsher language, saying that the NDP will “never satisfy itself with vague sentences.”

Trudeau did not attend the meeting. But Minister of Immigration Ahmed Hussen defended the prime minister’s response to the ban and said that the government will continue working with the White House to minimize the ban’s negative impact on Canadians.

He added that anyone carrying a valid Canadian visitor visa stranded north of the border because of the new U.S. policy will be able to request to extend their stay in Canada “as needed.”

“The prime minister has made it very clear that Canada will continue to be a place of refuge for people fleeing persecution and war in the world,” Hussen said.

The minister added that Canadians have set a global precedent when it comes to welcoming refugees in response to the Syrian refugee crisis. Hussen said the government plans to “carry on this proud tradition.”

The emergency meeting, requested by an NDP MP, was called specifically to discuss the travel ban.