Hidden from public view, Donald Trump signed another executive order regulating travel from six majority-Muslim countries to the United States. The first version of the travel ban was disastrous for the White House. Not only were many of the ban’s provisions struck down in court as unconstitutional, but the confusing language of the order caused chaos at many airports across the US. The new travel ban has been written in a manner that will protect its spirit in the court system.
Under the new terms, visas will not be issued to people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Unlike the previous ban, however, Iraq has been removed from the list at the request of defence officials including James Mattis, the secretary of defence. Importantly for the Trump administration’s ability to defend this ban, the new order will not affect green card holders or anyone else who already has a visa in the US or outside the country.
There is, however, one controversial provision that has the potential to disrupt the lives of millions of people. The department of homeland security has been granted authority to set new standards for how much information other countries must provide if their nationals’ wish to visit. The crux is that countries or citizens unable to provide the requested information will be placed on a permanent travel blacklist as opposed to the 90-day one that is currently in place.
What does this mean in practice? Consider a Syrian or South Sudanese refugee trying to enter the US. If the department of homeland security requests bank records from, say, 15 years ago but the bank in question has had their records destroyed in a war, then the refugee is, in effect, banned from entering the US.
The burden of data might not be large for those in the West who can easily obtain information but for people coming from war zones, obtaining information can be horribly difficult. The power to effectively block large numbers of people now therefore resides in the hands of homeland security officials. And how they use it will be buried in a bureaucratic process that is difficult for the public to fully understand.
