New Travel Ban Announcement
March 7th, 2017 by SRW Lawyers
A new travel ban has been announced. The focus is to be on nationals from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.
According to AILA (AILA Doc. No. 17030601), the announcement reads:
“For the next 90 days, foreign nationals from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen who are outside the United States on the effective date of the order, do not currently have a valid visa on the effective date of this order, and did not have a valid visa at 5:00 eastern standard time on January 27, 2017, are not eligible to travel to the United States. The 90-day period will allow for proper review and establishment of standards to prevent terrorist or criminal infiltration by foreign nationals.”
Iraq has been removed from the list, reportedly for diplomatic reasons.
There will also be a global,country-by-country review of security information and procedures provided to the U.S. by countries and efforts to improve the thoroughness of that information.
The new Executive Order does not apply to lawful permanent residents of the United States; foreign nationals admitted to the United States after the effective date of the order; individuals with a document that is valid on the effective date of the order or any date thereafter which permits travel to the United States; dual nationals when travelling on a passport issued by a non-designated country.
The DHS and the Department of State will still have discretionary authority, on a case-by-case basis, to issue visas and allow foreign nationals of the six affected countries to enter the United States.
Implementation will be phased in over the next two weeks, according to DHS officials.
Lastly, the new Executive Order will suspend the Refugee Admissions Program for the next 120 days while DHS and interagency partners review screening procedures to ensure refugees admitted in the future do not pose a security risk to the United States.
