Did President Trump do anything wrong when he instituted an order to bar travelers from certain countries?
The use of a travel ban is not something new to this country and what President Trump did was done by President Obama with more time to implement and much less fanfare.
Per CNN, “President Trump signed an executive order Friday night to keep refugees from entering the country for 120 days and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim nations out for three months. The countries affected are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. This is the “extreme vetting” Trump promised during the campaign, but it still seems to have caught folks by surprise.” It seems that our new President does not fully understand that our Federal Government is not run like a business, where if the president of a company says jump- you jump! With all the bureaucracy that exists in our government it will take time for things to be implemented properly. So when this ban was executed chaos was bound to happen and of course it did!
But let us get back to the real issue, is Trump’s issuing of his executive travel ban order valid? Here is some information about Obama’s ban– “The Department of Homeland Security targeted these seven countries over the last years as countries of concern. In February 2016 “The Department of Homeland Security today announced that it is continuing its implementation of the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015 with the addition of Libya, Somalia, and Yemen as three countries of concern, limiting Visa Waiver Program travel for certain individuals who have traveled to these countries.” It noted “the three additional countries designated today join Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria as countries subject to restrictions for Visa Waiver Program travel for certain individuals.” It was the US policy under Obama to restrict and target people “who have been present in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, at any time on or after March 1, 2011 (with limited government/military exceptions).” This was text of the US Customs and Border Protection in 2015 relating to “the Visa Waiver Program and Terrorist Travel Protection Act of 2015“. The link even includes the seven nation list in it: “Iraq, Syria, Iran, SUdan, Somalia or Yemen.” And the media knew this back in May 2016 when some civil rights groups complained about it. “These restrictions have provoked an outcry from the Iranian-American community, as well as Arab-American and civil-liberties groups, who say the restrictions on dual nationals and certain travelers are discriminatory and could be imposed against American dual nationals.”
It was signed into law on December 18, 2015, as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of FY2016.”
So it seems, at least on the surface, that President Trump has just done what President Obama had done in the past. But with less guidance and too little time to implement it correctly; as to it being a legal executive order the Right Wing Republicans think so and the Left Wing Democrats think not. But if President Obama did do what Trump has done, then Trump did nothing wrong.
What I do know right now that this has been made into a political attack against Trump and maybe we should wait to see what happens in the courts before deciding what was done is legal, right or wrong and/or ethical for our country to do.
Remember that the political pundits are having a field day attacking each other and the President! I for one will withhold final judgment until the legal process is completed.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
