US travel ban: Not applicable to permanent residents, dual citizens, diplomatic / NATO / UN visas

Following the international hue and cry over the travel ban imposed by US President Donald Trump through an executive order signed last week, the US authorities are now trying to put "things in proper perspective."

This was particularly so after a federal judge brushed aside the executive order and lifted the ban on travellers from the seven banned countries - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Yemen - with valid entry visas into the US.

US airports started allowing residents to enter the United States on Saturday, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is the overseeing authority charged with monitoring and regulating the arrival of all foreigners into the country, reversed the revocation of 60,000 visas, all in response to the judge's ruling.

The DHS has clarified in a statement, the classes of aliens affected by the 90-day temporary pause on travel, allowing case-by-case exceptions and waivers, as outlined in the Presidential executive order called "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States".

"To ensure that the US government can conduct a thorough analysis of the national security risks faced by our immigration system, the Executive Order imposes a 90-day pause on the entry into the United States of nationals from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen.

This pause does not apply to lawful Permanent Residents (also known as green-card holders), dual citizens with passports from a country other than the seven listed, or those travelling on diplomatic, NATO or UN visas.

Special Immigrant visa holders who are nationals of these seven countries may board US-bound planes, and apply for and receive a national interest exception to the pause upon arrival," the DHS statement said.

Furthermore, the statement said that, "Importantly, these seven countries are the only countries to which the pause on entry applies. No other countries face such treatment.

Nor have any other countries been identified as warranting future inclusion at this time, contrary to false reports".

The DHS added that, as directed by the Executive Order, the agency is working with the Department of State and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a "country-by-country review of the information provided by countries in order for their nationals to apply for myriad visas, immigration benefits, or otherwise seek admission into the United States".

This review is needed to ensure that individuals seeking to enter the US are who they claim to be and do not pose a security or public-safety threat".

The DHS said that it would provide the results of this review to the President within 30 days of the Executive Order's signing.

"This review, conducted in consultation with our interagency partners, will determine which countries do not provide adequate information on their nationals seeking immigration benefits or admission into the United States.

"Principally, the goal is to ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward the United States and its founding principles," the DHS said.

Based on that report, the State Department will ask any foreign governments who were determined to not be supplying adequate information on their nationals to begin providing such information within 60 days.

"In order to protect Americans, and to advance the national interest, the United States must ensure that we have adequate information about individuals seeking to enter this country to ensure that they do not bear malicious intent toward the United States and its people," the statement sums up. - Bernama