January 29th, 2020 | Written by - Carrie Bifulco '21
I’m sure we’ve all heard about, President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban that went into effect in 2017, which temporarily bars entry to the United States for all travelers and immigrants from seven countries, most with Muslim majorities. The ban was signed during his first week in office and triggered a flurry of confusion in airports where travellers were detained, along with massive national protests. The original version of the order entailed the suspension of the US Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days, placed an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees, and created a system where anyone arriving from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen faced a 90-day visa suspension. President Trump imposed these restrictions under the claim that putting the US refugee program at a stand-still would allow time for government agencies to implement a stricter vetting system and ensure that visas were not issued to individuals that could be classified as a national security threat. Activists opposed to the ban claimed that it targeted Muslims because of their faith and that the most recent terrorist attacks at the time had been carried out by citizens from countries not included in the travel ban or individuals born in the US. The initial imposition of the ban sparked myriad court challenges and was modified to only restrict some people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, and North Korea from traveling to the US, removing Iraq and Sudan from the restrictions altogether. The prohibition of travel to the US for Venezuelans applies mainly to members of government agencies and their families. In June 2018, the Supreme Court continued to uphold this policy, despite being presented with evidence from lower courts that deemed the ban unconstitutional.
This month, the president announced that more countries will be added to the ban. There is little information regarding which countries or how many of them, but it should be released “very shortly” according to the president himself. A source who had been briefed on the plans explained to NPR that restrictions will potentially be added for Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus. However, the breadth of these limitations will range depending on the country. Trump campaigned on a platform that included harsh suppression of illegal immigration. He is evidently continuing to follow through on original campaign promises with Election Day about nine months away.
Commentaires