25 September, 2017
President Trump is replacing his controversial travel ban with a targeted list of restrictions that will enhance vetting for nationals from eight countries, senior administration officials announced Sunday. The new restrictions are based on whether the countries share information, including information about terrorists, and whether they have adequate security initiatives, including electronic passports to combat fraud. The Supreme Court eventually allowed the ban to take effect - mostly - until it can hear the case.
The travel ban was first announced within days of Trump taking office in January.
"The devil is in the details, and we are watching with great skepticism", Romero said.
Trump's first travel ban sparked days of protests at global airports for targeting predominantly Muslim nations. "This is an apparent effort to paper over the original sin of the Muslim ban".
After the September 15 bombing attack on a London train, Trump wrote on Twitter that the new ban "should be far larger, tougher and more specific - but stupidly, that would not be politically correct". The Trump administration says the order was needed for national security reasons. "It remains the same rotten fruit from a poisonous tree".
This spring, the legal challenges to the ban continued, with opponents arguing that the ban is a thinly-veiled attempt to implement the Muslim ban Trump promised on the campaign trail.
In the The New York Times reports that the restrictions would differ for each country but that people living in the targeted nations could be prevented from travelling to the United States or face increased scrutiny as they seek to obtain a visa. The Department of Homeland Security has recommended the president sign off on new, more targeted restrictions on foreign nationals from countries it says refuse to share sufficient information with the USA or haven't taken necessary security precautions. Calling out to the countries that do not meet the criteria for safe travel and fail to cooperate with USA authorities face the complete ban on both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. Seven of the countries face wide-ranging restrictions, while the limits imposed on Venezuela will only apply to a group of government officials and their families. "The acting secretary has suggested activities that are extreme and that are custom fitted, including confinements and upgraded screening for specific nations", said Miles Taylor, advisor to acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke. That means the new travel restrictions are in place for eight countries altogether. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: "With this Proclamation, the President is carrying out his duty to protect the American people". Authorities haven't said which - or what number of - nations will be influenced by the new confinements, which could produce results when Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday expanded a travel ban to include visitors from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in East Asia, Venezuela in Latin America and Chad in central Africa. The directive also stipulates that USA officials can grant waivers to the travel restrictions on a case-by-case basis. Critics allege that countries were added and removed from the list for purely political purposes. The restrictions will also kick in then for individuals from countries identified in the earlier travel ban who were covered under the Supreme Court's "bona fide" exception. Again, the administration lost in two appeals courts, leaving Mr Trump furious and turning to the Supreme Court. On Saturday, North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong-ho said a strike against the US mainland was "inevitable" after Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "Rocket Man" and threatened to "totally destroy" his nation.North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said Saturday that Trump would be blamed for any loss of life during the escalating North Korea-U.S. dispute.
.
