DHS clarifies Trump ‘travel ban’
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), led by its head, Secretary John Kelly, held a press briefing on Tuesday to clarify much of the confusion surrounding the new travel restrictions President Donald Trump signed into effect by executive order on Friday.
“Green card” holders—legal permanent residents—are allowed to board US-bound airplanes, Kelly stated. They will be subject to extra screening once they arrive, but he strongly suggested that the additional screening would be perfunctory.
The DHS head also affirmed that dual passport holders will be admitted based on the passport they present as they arrive in the US. Thus, if someone is both a British and an Iraqi citizen, he will be admitted on the basis of his British passport.
Kelly also affirmed that this was “not a ban on Muslims,” nor would it be a permanent feature of US policy.
The new measures were merely a “pause” to allow for a comprehensive review of US immigration procedures, he explained. They concern travelers from seven designated countries (Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen) which Congress has previously identified as problems.
Kelly explained that these countries all lacked proper technical measures to ensure that the individual who presented a passport at a US port of entry was, in fact, the person whom he claimed to be.
Kelly also clarified a point of critical importance to Americans. As chaos mounted at US airports, several federal judges issued orders temporarily blocking the implementation of at least part of the new restrictions. Kelly made clear that DHS was following their directions. We “immediately implemented” the court orders, he affirmed.
To disobey such court orders would be to challenge the constitutional system—the separation of powers and the checks and balances—that lie at its heart and at the core of the principles on which the country is founded.
Speaking alongside Kelly were the heads of agencies that are part of DHS and are involved in implementing the new travel regulations: Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the Office of Intelligence and Analysis.
Those men are more directly involved in carrying out the new procedures than the DHS head. The Department, thus, spoke with its most informed voices. Putting them before the press also demonstrated that the relevant bureaucracies were fully informed of the new measures and supportive of them.
The DHS briefing, doubtless, came as a relief to many: to foreign travelers who may have thought that they faced some prohibition, temporary or not, against entry into the US, and to Americans, as well.
To an unprecedented degree, Trump has given free reign to his political advisers, at least in the first days of his presidency. Such individuals were instrumental in helping him win the election, but they are publicists, skilled at getting people excited and turning out the vote.
But different qualities are needed to run the country. They include a broad understanding of the issues involved and the relevant institutional procedures. On Tuesday, the professionals stepped forward and did a lot to clarify the new regulations and tamp down the fires that Trump's advisers had created.
Editing by Delovan Barwari