Donald Trump’s travel ban: What does it mean?

What is the travel ban announced by US president Donald Trump?

On Friday, Mr Trump signed the 'Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States' executive order . It is not quite a ban on all Muslim people entering the US, but it targets 134 million people from seven mainly Muslim countries. They are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia.

In the order Mr Trump says: "I hereby suspend entry to the United States, as immigrants and non-immigrants, of such persons [from the named countries] for 90 days from the date of this order."

Use of the word “persons” is vague. The ban is not confined to citizens of the named countries. It includes people born in them, those with dual citizenship including of one of the countries and could include people with family background in one of the named countries.

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It means an Irish citizen born in one of the named countries, whether they have citizenship there or not, will not be allowed to travel to the US.

Mr Trump has said the US will begin issuing visas to all countries once the US is sure they have “reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days”.

Does it affect refugees?

Yes. All refugee admissions are to be halted for 120 days, with the entry of Syrian refugees suspended indefinitely. In the order Mr Trump says: “I hereby proclaim that the entry of nationals of Syria as refugees is detrimental to the interests of the United States”.

The order gives the Department of Homeland Security leeway to prioritise refugee claims “on the basis of religious based persecution” as long as the person applying for refugee status is “a minority religion in the individual’s country of nationality.”

That will make it easier for Christians and other religious minorities in majority-Muslim countries to enter the US than for Muslims.

What does it mean for US green card holders?

Over the weekend people with green cards were stopped at US entry points after a White House official confirmed that the ban did affect people with green cards who were returning to the US from the seven nations. It said green card holders who had left the US and wanted to return would have to visit a US embassy or consulate for additional screening.

Then on Sunday evening, US Homeland security secretary John Kelly said people from the seven countries who hold green cards – making them lawful permanent US residents – would not be blocked from returning the United States from overseas.

White House chief of Staff Reince Priebus also said on an NBC Sunday morning news programme that people with green cards would not be blocked from re-entering the country.

A number of green card holders were detained in US airports over the weekend following Mr Trump’s signature of the directive on Friday. However, all green card holders who had been detained at US airports were admitted into the country by late on Sunday. It is not clear yet how many people were detained.

What has been the reaction in the US?

There have been huge protests at airports across the country, with demonstrations in cities and airports in Los Angeles, Boston, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, Indianapolis and Detroit, with thousands gathering at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York. One of the biggest US protests was at Los Angeles International Airport where thousands gathered on Sunday night.

Abed A Ayoub, legal and policy director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, described the order as "tantamount to a Muslim ban".

“In our view, these actions taken by Trump and this administration have nothing to do with national security,” he said. “They’re based off Islamophobia, they’re based off of xenophobia, and we cannot allow that to continue.”

Meanwhile, outside the White House, several thousand protesters denounced the ban, carrying signs such as ‘Deport Trump’ and ‘Fear is a terrible thing for a nation’s soul’.

Mr Trump has expressed no doubts about his orders and defended the directive by claiming it “is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting”.

“This is not about religion,” he said on Sunday. “This is about terror and keeping our country safe. There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order.”

US Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham said in a joint statement that Mr Trump’s orders could do more to help recruit terrorists than improve US security. Mr Trump responded to the statement by tweeting that the two senators were “sadly weak on immigration”.

How is the rest of the world reacting?

Canada is offering temporary residency to people stranded in the country as a result of Mr Trump’s directive, the Canadian immigration minister Ahmed Hussen has said. German chancellor Angela Merkel said the global fight against terrorism was no excuse for the measures and “does not justify putting people of a specific background or faith under general suspicion”.

Meanwhile in the UK, the foreign office issued a statement on Sunday saying the executive order would only apply to individuals travelling from one of the seven named countries and did not apply to those with dual citizenship from the UK and one of the named countries.

It said the only dual nationals who would be subject to extra checks would be those travelling from one of the countries themselves – for example a UK-Libya dual national travelling from Libya to the US.

Is this being implemented here in the State?

The policy is being applied by US immigration officials at US preclearance facilities in Dublin and Shannon airports. So far the US embassy has not said anyone has been prevented from boarding a US-bound flight.

However, it is likely someone will be in the next 88 days given the number of nationals from the named countries resident in the State.

Surely it is illegal to apply these rules here?

That may be so, despite the argument by some that US law operates in US preclearance areas.

Two factors are significant here. First, Irish officials are involved in the operation of the preclearance areas, particularly the gardaí and customs and excise officials. Second, US preclearance areas are on Irish soil.

A group of Irish lawyers writing on the humanrights.ie blog point out that preclearance at Irish airports is governed by Irish law – the 2009 Aviation Preclearance Act. The Act gives effect to the 2008 Preclearance Agreement between the US and Irish governments.

Though it is not part of Irish law, it says: "Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as diminishing the rights enjoyed by individuals under the Constitution and laws of Ireland. "

The Republic continues to have international legal human rights obligations to people on Irish soil. These rights include the right to not to be discriminated against based on religion or nationality. Discrimination against EU citizens with dual citizenship of one of the named countries is prohibited in the EU under Article 18 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

In addition, Section 42 of the 2014 Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act says any public body, "in the performance of its functions" must "have regard to the need to . . . eliminate discrimination . . . protect the human rights of its members, staff and the persons to whom it provides services". This includes the gardaí and customs and excise officials.

If someone is refused permission to board a flight to the US, what will happen to them?

If they have Irish or EU citizenship they will not be allowed to fly and will have to leave the preclearance area.

If they are from outside the EU they will be accompanied out of US preclearance by Irish immigration officials. They will then be at the “frontiers of the State” and will have the right to request entry to Ireland. This may include an application for asylum or subsidiary protection.

The State has an obligation not to return a person to a country where they face a serious possibility of persecution or torture. This is known as a “duty of non-refoulement”.

Could this order be extended to include other countries?

Yes. The order says US Homeland Security and National Intelligence officials, in conjunction with the Secretary of State, will now review what information they need from “any country” to decide whether its citizens should be allowed entry to the US.

A report will be made to the president within 30 days, including “a list of countries that do not provide adequate information”.

All “foreign governments that do not supply such information” will be asked to “start providing information regarding their nationals within 60 days”. If they do not, their nationals will also be banned from the US.

In addition, “at any point after submitting the list” another list can be submitted to the president, “of any additional countries recommended for such treatment”.