Former US President Donald Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, promised on Saturday (Oct. 28) that if he is elected, he will reinstate a controversial order that targeted a slew of mostly Muslim countries. Trump told a Republican Jewish convention in Las Vegas, “We will keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.”
“You remember the travel ban? On day one, I will restore our travel ban,” he added. Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Trump said he would defend “our friend and ally” Israel like nobody ever has.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas is “a fight between civilization and savagery, between decency and depravity, and between good and evil,” he said.
What exactly is the Muslim travel ban?
Following his victory in the 2016 US presidential election, Donald Trump issued an executive order in late January 2017 that prohibited travel and refugee settlement in certain predominantly Muslim countries. The order prohibits travel to the United States from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, as well as the resettlement of all Syrian refugees.
“As President, I must act to protect the security and interests of the United States and its people. I am committed to our ongoing efforts to engage those countries willing to cooperate, improve information-sharing and identity-management protocols and procedures, and address both terrorism-related and public-safety risks,” Trump said on September 24, 2017.
“Some of the countries with remaining inadequacies face significant challenges. Others have made strides to improve their protocols and procedures, and I commend them for these efforts,” he added.
Trump stated that it was Washington’s policy to protect American citizens from terrorist attacks and other threats to public safety. Screening and vetting protocols, as well as procedures associated with visa adjudications and other immigration processes, he claims, are critical to the policy’s implementation.
Trump’s Muslim travel ban order sparked airport protests across the United States
According to a report by Immigration History, Trump’s Muslim travel ban order sparked airport protests across the United States, and immigration rights, refugee resettlement, and civil liberties organizations filed several legal challenges to the order, alleging religious discrimination.
According to the report, the lawsuits against the travel bans resulted in court injunctions temporarily blocking the order, and groups opposing the ban also blocked a second iteration of the executive order.
In a 5-4 decision in June 2018, the Supreme Court allowed a third version of the executive order to go into effect, expanding the list of barred travelers to include Venezuelans (limited to government officials) and North Koreans.
Two years later, the Trump administration expanded visa restrictions to six more countries, citing screening and national security concerns in those countries (Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania).
Joe Biden reversed the ban in his first week in office after defeating Trump in the 2020 presidential election
Current President Joe Biden reversed the ban in his first week in office after defeating Trump in the 2020 presidential election. According to a White House spokesperson, Biden “was proud to overturn Donald Trump’s vile, un-American Muslim ban.”
Biden criticized the Muslim travel ban order in a statement issued on January 20, 2021.
“The previous administration enacted a number of executive orders and presidential proclamations that prevented certain individuals from entering the United States—first from primarily Muslim countries and later from largely African countries. Those actions are a stain on our national conscience and are inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all,” Biden said.
He said that the travel ban order undermined US national security and jeopardized the country’s global network of alliances and partnerships. “Make no mistake; where there are threats to our nation, we will address them,” Biden added.
Biden revoked the following: Executive Order 13780 of March 6, 2017 (Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States), Proclamation 9645 of September 24, 2017 (Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats), Proclamation 9723 of April 10, 2018 (Maintaining Enhanced Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats), and Proclamation 9983 of January 31, 2020 (Improving Enhanced Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats).
He demanded that visa services be resumed for the affected countries, as well as a review of information-sharing relationships and a plan to strengthen partnerships.
“Where there are opportunities to strengthen information-sharing with partners, we will pursue them. And when visa applicants request entry to the United States, we will apply a rigorous, individualized vetting system,” the president also said.