President Donald Trump issued an executive order soon after taking office. The order was to ban entry of people into the United States from six Muslim majority countries namely Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. This was because they could have links with terror outfits and, hence, would be liabilities. Trump wanted to ensure safety for the Americans.
However, the travel ban faced hurdles and landed up in the Court. Therefore, it has been recast, and the revised version is believed to have addressed all relevant issues and will be more effective.
The list of countries that would be affected is not disclosed.
New Version of travel ban
New York Times reports that the original travel ban was applicable to people from six Muslim-majority countries. There were doubts that the security apparatus at their end was not geared up to prevent terrorists and criminals from traveling to the United States. The new format could impose an indefinite ban on entry till such time the security machinery is brought up to acceptable standards. Donald Trump is yet to announce the list of countries that will face travel restrictions.
The revised ban will come into effect immediately after the end of the initial 90-day period.
An official of Homeland Security explained that there is a need to know details about people who enter America and their identities must be validated in order to protect the country from terror outfits.
The original travel ban had drawbacks and, hence, has changed with fresh inputs from security officials of other countries.
Some of the relevant security aspects include various methods to authenticate the identity of a traveler and sharing information about terrorist and criminal networks. Officials have indicated that countries that can comply with these exhaustive checks need not worry.
The security mechanism
The United States has a comprehensive security setup with agents of the Department of Homeland Security positioned in nearly 80 countries around the world. Their responsibility is to screen people who fall into the category of high-risk travelers and want to come to America.
Officers of the customs department who are attached to immigration liaise with airlines as well as foreign security officials to detect frauds and also maintain a watch over their possible links to illegal activities like to terror outfits, or to drug smuggling and human trafficking rings.
Measures of this nature ensure that issue of visa is restricted, and those with doubtful records are denied entry. The revised travel ban is an extension of the security protocol.
However, there have been a number of terror attacks by homegrown terrorists apart from lone wolf attacks. It is difficult to anticipate these, and the travel ban may not help to contain them. The complete security system has to be modified to tackle the changing strategies of terrorists so that total security is assured for America and its people.
