There are military families stationed around the world who go longer than 90 days without seeing family members…
President Donald Trump approved the revised travel ban on Monday which will go into effect on March 16. Since the last travel ban was challenged, changes have been made in order to comply with federal judges who ruled against the first ban. Those changes include removing language that gives priority to Christian refugees fleeing a Muslim majority country, removing the ban of Syrian refugees indefinitely, and the removal of Iraq from the list of countries barred from receiving visas to enter the United States for 90 days. Iraq has been actively fighting alongside the United States against terrorism for some time, with many Iraqi interpreters risking their lives to assist American troops on the ground. The remaining list of countries have been identified as high risk for terrorism.
The revised executive order also allows for decisions to be made on a case by case basis. This is important for those who have extenuating circumstances that need further review and exception. This makes it possible for citizens of the identified countries to secure a visa in certain cases. The United States, however, would ensure that the threat of terrorism in those cases is absent. The new order also says that the government will publicize every crime related to terrorism that is committed within the United States by foreigners so that the American people can be kept abreast of what is happening regarding refugees.
Releasing such statistics is important for the American people not only for situational awareness, but to keep informed about how these matters affect the country. The new order will also only allow 50,000 refugees to enter the United States per year, which is less than half the amount of refugees that were allowed into the country under the Obama administration.
One of the plaintiffs—a member of the Muslim Association of Hawaii—is alarmed because he says his Syrian mother-in-law will be unable to visit. Since the ban is only 90 days, I don’t quite understand how this would cause such devastation. There are military families stationed around the world who go longer than 90 days without seeing loved ones. I also don’t see how President Trump’s latest executive order regarding the travel regulations would prohibit these family members from traveling to their home country of Syria to visit family members—since those who already have visas will not have them revoked.
The challenge claims the ban is discriminatory towards Muslims. With no mention of religion this challenge lacks the substance needed to validate the claims. One of the biggest differences that can be argued against is the fact that President Trump approved review on a case by case basis. This gets rid of the notion that individuals are being discriminated based on their religion. While it’s no secret that the majority of the citizens of the barred countries are Muslim, it’s also no secret that a large number of terrorist acts have come from those countries as well.
Angelina Newsom is an OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran. She has ten years experience in the military, including a deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She studies Criminal Justice and is still active within the military community.
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