Amid his crackdown on immigrants and citizenship, President Donald Trump may shift his sights on another restriction.
Civil rights activists have become increasingly concerned the President will call for another travel ban on Muslim-majority countries early in his second term.
Trump’s recent executive order could lay the framework for the ban, Al Jazeera reported. Released on Monday, the executive order could target nationals who are legally in the United States.
As stated in the signed decree, the State Department, Department of Justice and other agencies have 60 days to identify countries whose vetting and screening processes are so inadequate, that the United States can partially or fully prohibit entry of those nationals.
Trump also ordered officials to identify how many nationals from those countries have entered the United States since January 20, 2021 — the start of Joe Biden presidency. Officials are also to collect and pass on information “relevant to the actions or activities of such nationals since their admission or entry to the United States.”
The executive order could give the Trump administration leeway to reinstate a Muslim travel ban from his first term, which Biden revoked after taking office, The National reported.
The 2017 ban interrupted several visas, some of them for travelers in mid-air. Many challenged the ban until the U.S. Supreme Court upheld it in 2018. Throughout Trump’s first term, the ban affected travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
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