On September 24, the Trump administration announced its latest version of the travel ban. In the newest form of the administration’s already controversial travel ban, there are new constraints on travelers from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen on entering the United States.
The announcement came on the same day that Trump’s temporary ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries was set to expire. The particular regulations on immigration from these eight countries will most likely vary depending on the country. The travel ban will go into effect at the start of next month.
President Trump’s new order is more far-reaching than his original travel ban that he announced in January of 2017. The original executive order that was issued by Trump banned the entry of citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for no longer than a 90-day period. The order also indefinitely halted the acceptance of Syrian refugees.
The newest version of the travel ban imposes permanent restrictions on travel from eight countries, rather than the 90-day suspension that he previously authorized. Although there are eight predominantly Muslim countries that the travel ban prominently focuses on, most of the nation’s covered by his original ban are still cited as threats to the national security of the United States.
Although it is being widely criticized by immigrant and civil rights groups, experts are saying that this version could have a stronger chance of being implemented than the last version of the travel ban. This travel ban, which set to go into effect on October 18th, could be less vulnerable to legal attack. The nature of the most current travel ban is now being deemed as more “politically correct,” despite it still being just as discriminatory to Muslim travelers as the last version.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments over the original travel ban and the latest version on October 10th.
Media Resources: USA Today, 6/5/2017, CNN 9/25/17, New York Times 9/24/17; Feminist Newswire 9/13/17, 7/3/17