Donald Trump’s Immigration Ban

Since President Donald Trump has sworn his oath, he has been diligently signing several executive orders that have been causing major changes in the U.S. One of the most controversial executive orders is the immigration ban that he signed last week.

Detained people

Based on the order, people that came from seven predominantly Muslim countries are banned from entering the country for 90 days, which includes Syria, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan. In addition, it also states that refugees are banned for 120 days, while those from Syria are banned indefinitely. As a result, it gained several responses and movements against the order. According to several reports, many Muslim have already been onboard while Trump signed the order. Thus, all of them were put detained in the airport and can’t be reunited with their families. But before we discuss the consequences of this order, let’s take a detailed look of it.

Totally barred

  • Visitors or business travelers

Seven countries

If you are a tourist or simply conducting a business with non-immigrant travel visas like B-1 or B-2 then you can’t enter the country.

  • International students and their families

They are those who hold non-immigrant visas like F-1, J-1, and M-1. Based on the data of Institute of International Education, there are 17,354 international students from the seven barred countries. All of them are currently enrolled in different American institutions for the school year 2015 – 2016. As a result, Princeton University and other schools warned international students from leaving the country because they won’t be able to re-enter.

  • Temporary workers and their families

Employees that hold non-immigrant work visas like H-1 B for specialty workers and H-2B for agricultural workers are the ones who are affected by the order. Thus, we can imagine that farms will be having a hard time looking for replacement workers during the harvesting season.

  • Fiancés of U.S. citizens

This is only applicable to those who have pending immigrant visas for the fiancés and for spouses and children of U.S. citizens or green card holders. Therefore, it means that these families won’t be able to stay together. The sad thing is that even the children are affected by the order.

  • New immigrants

Those who are arrived in the U.S. and were issued with immigrant visas based on employment or family status were also banned. From these seven countries, there are 52,365 green cards issued in 2015. A green card is issued to immigrant visa holders to become legal permanent residents.

  • Refugees

The entire US refugee admission system was suspended for 120 days. The process is already one of the most difficult screening procedures worldwide because it takes 18 up to 24 months of interviews and background checks through several federal agencies. However, Trump wants to have more restrictions but hasn’t disclosed the information. In the case of Syrian refugees, the program was suspended indefinitely. Though based on data, the U.S. has only accepted 12,468 Syrian refugees in 2016. The number is far from other countries like Lebanon with 1 million refugees and Germany that received 300,000 refugees in 2016.

Case-by-case

The order was not absolute since State and Homeland Security may still issue visas on a case-by-case basis, especially if it’s for national interest.

  • Green card holders

There was confusion after the order has been signed by Trump. People were not sure whether green card holders were affected by the ban or not. It was only on Sunday that a memo has been released to clear up the issue. According to the statement, green card holders won’t be stopped in airports to board planes headed to the U.S. Upon arrival, they should expect ‘swift entry’ where they will be assessed.

  • Special immigrants

Those who worked for the U.S. government or served for them were given special immigrant visas or SIVs. They will be allowed to board the plane and their waivers will be processed upon arrival in the country.

Allowed

  • Dual Nationals

Those who have dual citizenship from the seven barred countries and another one will not be affected. This is another issue that was unclear after the order was executed. Canada and Britain were quick to enquire whether their citizens who were dual nationals from of one of the seven countries are barred or not. The White House was quick to answer that they won’t be affected.

  • Diplomats

Together with their families, diplomats who have visas like A-1 can easily enter the U.S.

  • Government Officials

The representatives of the foreign government or international organizations can also enter as long as they have visas like G-1, G-2, G-3, and G-4.

  • Visitors to the United Nations

People who have business to the United Nations and have C-2 visas can also enter the country.

  • NATO Officials

The officials with North Atlantic Treaty Organization visas, together with their families, can enter the country.

 

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