The Unprecedented Presidency: Travel Bans
In January 2017, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13768 which indefinitely suspended admission of asylum seekers fleeing the Syrian Civil War. It also suspended admission of all other refugees for 120 days, and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. The order also established a religious test for refugees from Muslim nations by giving priority to refugees of other religions over Muslim refugees. The administration subsequently backtracked slightly on this order by exempting visitors with a green card.
This order was challenged in the federal courts, and several federal judges issued rulings prohibiting the government from enforcing the order. When acting Attorney General Sally Yates announced that she would not defend the order in court, she was dismissed from her position and was replaced by Dana Boente, who said the Department of Justice would defend the order.
A new executive order was signed in March which limited travel to the U.S. from six different countries for 90 days, and by all refugees who did not possess either a visa or valid travel documents for 120 days. The new executive order revoked and replaced Executive Order 13768.
In June, the United States Supreme Court partially stayed certain injunctions that were put on the order by two federal appeals courts earlier. This allowed most of the new executive order to take effect. Then in October, the Court dismissed the case, saying the original orders had been replaced by the new order, and the court found that challenges to the previous executive orders were now moot.
In September of 2017, President Trump signed a proclamation placing limits on the six countries in the second executive order and added Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela. The next month, in October 2017, Judge Derrick Watson, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii issued another temporary restraining order and two months later in December 2017, the Supreme Court allowed the September 2017 travel restrictions to go into effect. The decision effectively barred most citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea from entry into the United States along with some government officials from Venezuela and their families.
In January 2020, President Trump added Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, and Tanzania to the visa ban list.
Further travel bans arose as a result of the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19. President Trump restricted travel from Iran on February 29, 2020, and advised American citizens not to travel to specific regions in Italy and South Korea in response to the coronavirus. In March 2020, the Trump administration later issued a ban on entrants from all Schengen Area countries (an area comprising 26 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders). Ireland and former EU member the United Kingdom were initially absent from the ban; the ban was later extended to the latter two countries.
The extent of the travel ban is unprecedented for a Presidential administration, although a previous travel ban has been imposed based on nationhood. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan imposed a ban on ban on Cuban immigration. However this ban exempted the largest category of Cuban immigrants, those who were immediate family members of U.S. citizens. The objective of the ban was to get the Cuban government to accept the repatriation of 2,746 Cubans, and it achieved its objective in 1987. Presidential Proclamation 5517 prohibited Cubans from entry into the United States from third countries, until normal migration procedures were restored. At the same time, Reagan tightened the American trade embargo on Cuba. The Reagan White House also pursued diplomatic options by denouncing Cuban human rights violations and requested an investigation by the United Nations. The March 1987 U.S. resolution before the UN Human Rights Commission criticizing Cuba's human rights record was derailed by one vote after ten Communist bloc countries and six Latin American nations, including
Nicaragua, opposed it.
This order was challenged in the federal courts, and several federal judges issued rulings prohibiting the government from enforcing the order. When acting Attorney General Sally Yates announced that she would not defend the order in court, she was dismissed from her position and was replaced by Dana Boente, who said the Department of Justice would defend the order.
A new executive order was signed in March which limited travel to the U.S. from six different countries for 90 days, and by all refugees who did not possess either a visa or valid travel documents for 120 days. The new executive order revoked and replaced Executive Order 13768.
In June, the United States Supreme Court partially stayed certain injunctions that were put on the order by two federal appeals courts earlier. This allowed most of the new executive order to take effect. Then in October, the Court dismissed the case, saying the original orders had been replaced by the new order, and the court found that challenges to the previous executive orders were now moot.
In September of 2017, President Trump signed a proclamation placing limits on the six countries in the second executive order and added Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela. The next month, in October 2017, Judge Derrick Watson, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii issued another temporary restraining order and two months later in December 2017, the Supreme Court allowed the September 2017 travel restrictions to go into effect. The decision effectively barred most citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea from entry into the United States along with some government officials from Venezuela and their families.
In January 2020, President Trump added Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, and Tanzania to the visa ban list.
Further travel bans arose as a result of the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19. President Trump restricted travel from Iran on February 29, 2020, and advised American citizens not to travel to specific regions in Italy and South Korea in response to the coronavirus. In March 2020, the Trump administration later issued a ban on entrants from all Schengen Area countries (an area comprising 26 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders). Ireland and former EU member the United Kingdom were initially absent from the ban; the ban was later extended to the latter two countries.
The extent of the travel ban is unprecedented for a Presidential administration, although a previous travel ban has been imposed based on nationhood. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan imposed a ban on ban on Cuban immigration. However this ban exempted the largest category of Cuban immigrants, those who were immediate family members of U.S. citizens. The objective of the ban was to get the Cuban government to accept the repatriation of 2,746 Cubans, and it achieved its objective in 1987. Presidential Proclamation 5517 prohibited Cubans from entry into the United States from third countries, until normal migration procedures were restored. At the same time, Reagan tightened the American trade embargo on Cuba. The Reagan White House also pursued diplomatic options by denouncing Cuban human rights violations and requested an investigation by the United Nations. The March 1987 U.S. resolution before the UN Human Rights Commission criticizing Cuba's human rights record was derailed by one vote after ten Communist bloc countries and six Latin American nations, including
Nicaragua, opposed it.