The second travel ban executive order, expected to take effect today has been halted, by two federal courts in Hawaii and Maryland. Trump had recrafted the travel ban to exclude Permanent Residents and US Citizens, originally hailing from the seven countries. He has also halted the processing of refugees from those seven countries.
Although the second travel ban is not, on its face unconstitutional, it does have desperate impact on persons of Muslim faith. Since Customs and Border Patrol officers have wide discretion as to who to “suspect” and “admit” their innate biases do play a factor. Report of abuses in recent times are rampant. Even Mohammad Ali’s parents were detained simply because they were of the Muslim faith.
“There is nothing “veiled” about this press release: “Donald Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” Judge Watson of Hawaii wrote. And one may also argue that there has not been any recent incidents of terrorists trying to enter the United States from those seven countries.
Thus this useless travel ban encourages discrimination towards certain religion. If we weigh whether America can be safer with the travel ban vs. whether discrimination towards Muslim is a legitimate State interest, the travel ban becomes clearly unconstitutional. The purpose of enacting it is nothing more than fulfilling Trump’s campaign promise to ban Muslims and serves no more than fueling hatred towards Muslims. The budget cuts to the Department of State will only enhance and prolong this process.
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