Biodun.BBC: Trump's immigration order

Showing posts with label Trump's immigration order. Show all posts

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Trump travel ban: what we know so far

05 February 2017 - 03H00 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Rachel Rubin and Biodun Iginla, France24, Washington DC

WASHINGTON -

A move by President Donald Trump's administration to appeal a federal court suspension of its immigration ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations is the latest twist in what could be a long legal battle with high stakes.

Here are the main facts about the executive order, and the court action surrounding them:

- Executive order -

The decree prohibits entry to all refugees, regardless of nationality, for 120 days, and bars Syrian refugees indefinitely.

It also suspended the issuance of visas for 90 days to migrants or visitors from seven mainly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

- Federal court action -

Judge James Robart of the federal district court in Seattle ordered the nationwide suspension of the president's order.

His ruling stands until the court can study a complaint filed by the Washington state attorney general, Bob Ferguson. Critics including Ferguson say the measure unfairly targets Muslims.

Federal judges in several other states -- notably California and New York -- have also ruled against Trump's executive order, but Robart's ruling has by far the greatest sweep.

- Travel ban lifted... for now -

"Those individuals with visas that were not physically canceled may now travel if the visa is otherwise valid," a State Department spokesperson said Saturday.

And the Department of Homeland Security, which has authority over border police, said that it was reverting to "standard policy and procedure."

Some airlines began quickly accepting passengers traveling to the United States from the affected countries.

The State Department said that 60,000 visas that had been revoked were again being honored, provided they were not cancelled with a physical stamp.

- Trump's next move -

Late Saturday, the Justice Department challenged the federal district judge's ruling. It will now move to a federal appeals court

If the appeals court were to uphold Robart's ruling, the case could go to the Supreme Court, said Peter Spiro, a law professor at Temple University in Philadelphia.

"It could go very, very fast," he added.

But for now, the Justice Department is operating without a permanent boss: Jeff Sessions, Trump's pick as US attorney general, has yet to be confirmed by the full Senate.

- Was the federal ruling unusual? -

Not really. The suspension of Trump's order is reminiscent of the reaction to Barack Obama's executive order of November 2014, which sought to protect from deportation more than four million undocumented immigrants who had been in the country for at least five years.

A federal judge in Texas ruled that Obama had overstepped his powers and blocked the order's implementation. That decision survived an appeal and reached the Supreme Court. Obama ultimately had to give in on what had been a key measure of his second term.

- Lessons to learn? -

Legal experts said Trump's attack on Robart was unusual.

"It's not exactly contempt of court, but it certainly is contemptuous and it conveys a lack of respect for the independent judiciary," said Laurence Tribe, a constitutional scholar and Harvard Law professor.

For Spiro, the Temple law professor, Trump made a mistake by mocking Robart as a "so-called judge."

"That's not something that judges like," he said.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Analysis: Who is affected by Trump's immigration order?

30 January 2017 - 01H39 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Rachel Rubin and Biodun Iginla, France24, Washington DC

WASHINGTON -

Ambiguity reigned Sunday as to the finer details of Donald Trump's temporary ban on incoming refugees and travelers from seven Muslim countries, with questions remaining about how exactly the measures affect various populations.

The order initially took many travelers by surprise, especially those already aboard airplanes en route to the United States as the president signed the measure into force on Friday afternoon.

Administration officials reported that 109 people had been detained as they arrived in the United States on Saturday, of which "a couple dozen" individuals were still being held as of Sunday morning.

The following is a list of the nationalities and groups of people affected by Trump's order, which is titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States."

- Refugees -

The decree prohibits entry to all refugees, regardless of nationality, for 120 days. Beyond that time, the United States will admit a maximum of 50,000 refugee in 2017, more than halving the 110,000-person limit set by former president Barack Obama.

The US refugee program was previously frozen for three months following the September 11 attack in 2001.

- Syrians -

All Syrians, refugee or otherwise, are forbidden from entering the United States until further notice.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Syrian war has forced 4.8 million people to flee the country since 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in December it had recorded the deaths of 312,001 people since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

- Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya -

No visas will be issued for 90 days to migrants or visitors from seven mainly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

- Green card holders -

The decree does not affect those who hold a US green card. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly declared the entry of lawful permanent residents to be "in the national interest."

However, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said that nationals from the seven countries named in the order should expect to be subject to increased border controls.

- Visa holders -

All visa holders coming from the seven specified countries are subject to the new order, with the exception of those who hold diplomatic visas or visas to international institutions such as NATO or the United Nations.

Judges in at least four states have blocked part of the ban, ordering authorities to stop deporting refugees and other travelers stuck at US airports.

- Binationals -

The situation for individuals with dual nationality remains complex. US officials said Saturday that American citizens who also have a passport from one of the seven barred countries are not affected by the order.

An exemption is also granted to dual nationals holding British and Canadian passports.

Britain said its nationals would not be subject to additional checks unless they traveled directly to the US from one of the listed countries.

But dual nationals who hold passports from one of the seven countries plus an additional foreign country will not be able to gain entrance.

Trump's immigration order: Global backlash

Sun Jan 29, 2017 | 21H:12 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Rachel Rubin and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, New York/Washington DC

A global backlash against U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration curbs gathered strength on Sunday as several countries including long-standing American allies criticized the measures as discriminatory and divisive.

Governments from London and Berlin to Jakarta and Tehran spoke out against Trump's order to put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily ban travelers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries. He said the move would help protect Americans from terrorism.

In Germany - which has taken in large numbers of people fleeing the Syrian civil war - Chancellor Angela Merkel said the global fight against terrorism was no excuse for the measures and "does not justify putting people of a specific background or faith under general suspicion", her spokesman said.

She expressed her concerns to Trump during a phone call and reminded him that the Geneva Conventions require the international community to take in war refugees on humanitarian grounds, the spokesman added.

Merkel's sentiments were echoed in Paris and London; "Terrorism knows no nationality. Discrimination is no response," said French Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, while his British counterpart Boris Johnson tweeted: "Divisive and wrong to stigmatize because of nationality."

Along with Syria, the U.S. ban of at least 90 days affects travelers with passports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, including those with dual nationality that includes one of those countries.

Trump said his order, which indefinitely bans refugees from Syria, was "not a Muslim ban", though he added he would seek to prioritize Christian refugees fleeing the country.

The Arab League - whose members include many of the countries included in the ban as well as allies of Washington such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan - expressed deep concern and said the restrictions were unjustified.

The government in Iraq, which is allied with Washington in the battle against ultra-hardline Islamist group Islamic State and hosts over 5,000 U.S. troops, did not comment on the executive order.

But some members of its parliament said Baghdad should retaliate with similar measures against the United States.

IRAN VOWS TO RESPOND

In Baghdad, influential Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said American nationals should leave Iraq, in retaliation for the travel curbs.

"It would be arrogance for you to enter freely Iraq and other countries while barring to them the entrance to your country ... and therefore you should get your nationals out," he said on his website.

There was no immediate reaction to the curbs from Islamic State, although in the past it has used U.S. monitoring of Muslim foreigners to stoke Muslim anger against Washington.

The Tehran government vowed to respond in kind to the U.S. ban on visitors from Iran, but on Sunday Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter that Americans who already hold Iranian visas can enter the country.

"Unlike the U.S., our decision is not retroactive. All with valid Iranian visa will be gladly welcomed," Zarif said.

Authorities in Sudan, which is also targeted by the ban, summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires in Khartoum. They said the order sent a "negative message", coming two weeks after Washington announced it would ease economic sanctions on the country.

Trump's executive order on Friday took effect immediately, wreaking havoc and confusion for would-be travelers with passports from the seven countries and plunging America's immigration system into chaos.

The Department of Homeland Security said about 375 travelers had been affected by the order, 109 of whom were in transit and were denied entry to the United States. Another 173 were stopped by airlines before boarding.

Fuad Sharef, his wife and three children were among the first victims. They had waited two years for a visa to settle in the United States, selling their home and quitting jobs and schools in Iraq before setting off for a new life they saw as a reward for working with U.S. organizations.

They were prevented from boarding their connecting flight to New York from Cairo airport on Saturday, detained overnight and forced to board a flight back to northern Iraq.

'I AM TOTALLY BROKEN'

"We were treated like drug dealers, escorted by deportation officers," Sharef told Reuters, likening Trump's decision to the dictatorship of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "I am broken, I am totally broken."

A 32-year-old Syrian man, Nail Zain, was among dozens of people at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport prevented from flying to the United States on Sunday. He told Reuters he was supposed to fly to Los Angeles, but officials said his visa was canceled.

"My wife and my son are in the United States. My son has American nationality. And we have been waiting for this moment for two years. Finally when I got the chance, they prevented me as a Syrian passport holder from traveling," he said.

He was later taken out of the terminal by authorities.

Trump, a businessman who successfully tapped into American fears about militant attacks during his campaign, had promised what he called "extreme vetting" of immigrants and refugees from areas the White House said the U.S. Congress deemed high risk.

He said on Saturday of his order: "It's working out very nicely. You see it at the airports, you see it all over."

The travel curbs, however, also drew criticism from several other countries around the globe.

In Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the Muslim-majority nation deeply regretted Trump's plans for "extreme vetting" of people from some Muslim countries.

Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said "open society, plural identity, no discrimination" were the "pillars of Europe", while the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian governments also registered their opposition.

Danish foreign minister Anders Samuelsen tweeted: "The U.S. decision not to allow entry of people from certain countries is NOT fair."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country welcomed those fleeing war and persecution, even as Canadian airlines said they would turn back U.S.-bound passengers to comply with an immigration ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries.

"To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada," he tweeted.