President Trump is determined to block immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the country. He’s also intent on suspending our refugee program. He claims that the bans are necessary to protect the security of America, but judges in courts across the country disagree. “Everybody is arguing whether or not it is a BAN,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday morning. “Call it what you want, it is about keeping bad people out of country!”
President Trump’s first travel ban was an executive order that was immediately met with outrage. Confusion and protests swept into airports all around the nation as immigration lawyers offered their services for free to people desperately trying to get into the country. Many of those people were longtime residents of the United States. That ban was challenged in a court in Washington, and the Ninth Circuit court of appeals ultimately ruled against the executive order, effectively halting the travel ban nationwide.
The new travel ban is less stringent than its predecessor, yet that has not stopped people from taking extra precautions. According to a recent article in the New York Times, H-1B visa applications have been pouring in by the truck load in Laguna Nigel, California. These visas allow U.S. companies to bring over foreign workers for up to 3 years and are particularly used by technology companies. The recent surge in applications shows that these companies are taking matters into their own hands instead of trusting the latest iteration of the travel ban.
It’s also impacting people on a deeply personal level. The Week just reported that the Trump administration is now requiring short-term visitors to the U.S. to surrender not only their cellphones, but their social media passwords. Visitors might have to “disclose contacts on their mobile phones, social media passwords, and financial records, and to answer probing questions about their ideology,” writes the Wall Street Journal. While the Trump administration claims this is part of their “extreme vetting”; people feel their privacy is being trampled over.
About Travel Ban 2.0
Under the new travel ban, immigrants from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen are denied entry to the United States for 90 days under the new ban – Iraq was left off the list. The new ban also suspends the US refugee program for 120 days.
But this replacement ban has also faced legal troubles. Cases in Hawaii and Maryland have led to the new order being blocked. The case in Hawaii is broader, but the Trump administration will likely have to defeat both cases in order to have their way.
A district judge in Hawaii ruled that the new ban violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. The Department of Justice is in the process of appealing the case to the Ninth Circuit, and the case is likely to make its way to the Supreme Court in short order.
In the meantime, the travel ban is currently blocked, which means that people with valid travel visas visiting the US from the six Muslim-majority countries mentioned in the ban are currently able to enter the United States. Refugees assigned to America are on their way, as well.
What does all of this mean for US travelers? Right now, not much. You may face heightened hostility in some countries due to our current travel upheaval, but our privileges to visit foreign countries have not yet been affected.
However, the EU is currently weighing the possibility of requiring US citizens to obtain a visa before visiting any EU countries. This would be a huge hassle for travelers who are currently able to visit the EU with just a valid passport.
We’ll be sure to keep you abreast of updates as this chaotic chapter in travel history continues to unfold. In the meantime, if you have any questions about expedited visa service or expedited passport renewals, contact the Swift team anytime. We’re happy to answer any questions and help you get where you’re going in a hurry.
2 thoughts on “Travel Ban 2.0: What Does it Mean for U.S. Travelers?”
This is great and awesome blog. Hey, I am so glad to read your thoughts because I really enjoyed reading this. The way you explain your travel experience is truly awesome.
I understand why President Trump put a ban on some of the countries. The reasoning is that terrorists can and will filter with those who are actually trying to leave a war-torn country to go to a country that is not. Definitely understood. However, what do we do about those who are detained unjustly just because they want to travel to see their family or return to their family. For example, my daughter-in-law has been in the US for almost ten years with a green card, going through the proper reporting immigration procedures, working in a well-paying job, and was in the process of becoming a citizen of the US. A couple of months before her being sworn in as a US citizen, my son, daughter-in-law, their two children who were born in the US and her mother, were flying back to her country, Trinidad. The Homeland Security agents pulled my daughter-in-law and her mother as if they were criminals, from my son and grandchildren. They were detained and asked questions for over two hours, leaving my son and grandchildren wondering what was going to happen.
Further, my son and daughter-in-law have traveled every other year to Trinidad to visit family as well as her mother would come and be with my son”s family for a couple of months every year, just so the grandchildren could be with their grandmother. So, why the change? We have no idea. The detainment was unjust and traumatic for them all and should never have happened, they were and are innocent and should never have been detained. There should be a formal apology for this horrific act.
I can attest to you all that my daughter-in-law is a wonderful young lady and has complied with all the immigration laws made for immigrants and has not committed any crimes and has been treated abominably. There should be some justice for her. Our country is going to hell in a hand basket and it’s the innocent legal immigrants who are being affected. Not the illegal immigrants who are guilty and who have absolutely and knowingly committed crimes, which everyone knows they are being released to continue to commit crimes on our society.