President Trump Signs New Travel Ban President Trump Signs New Travel Ban

President Trump Signs New Travel Ban

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President Trump has signed a new travel ban affecting Citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. To give travelers some time to adjust their plans the travel ban does not take effect until March 16, 2017, unlike the last executive order, where the immediate ban caused massive problems with travelers losing their right of entry to the US while midair.

The New Executive Order

The new executive order impacts citizens of six countries instead of the previous seven. Iraq has been removed from the list of banned countries. The key points of the ban are as follows:

  • The ban affects the citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen
  • The ban is effective for 90 days and citizens of those countries will not be granted a visa
  • The US refugee program has been suspended for 120 days, and the refugee cap has been reduced to 50,000 instead of the 110,000 it was under the Obama Administration. Also, the refugee program will not solely focus on Syrian refugees.

Unlike the previous ban, there are some exemptions, which are as follows:

  • Dual nationals of the six countries are exempt when traveling to the US on their other nation’s passport
  • Greencard-holders from the six countries are exempt from the travel ban
  • People who have already been granted asylum or refugee status are also exempt from the ban
  • Anyone who already has a valid visa should be able to travel to the US, according to The Washington Post, although once the visa expires, they will have to reapply for their visa.

Overall

This time around, the executive order signed by President Trump seems to be a lot more thought out and is worded to avoid a potential blockage by the courts. However, similar to last time, the order will more than likely be facing various challenges in the federal courts, and only time will tell whether it will be upheld or not.

Source: Emily McNutt/The Points Guy

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