Following the Trump administration’s Sept. 24 issuance of the third iteration of its foreign travel ban to the US, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is advising US carriers that CBP is not anticipating any operational impact as a result of the directive, an Airlines for America (A4A) spokesperson told ATW.
“Much like the previous executive order regarding travel—which did not impact our operations—this order impacts the visa issuance process,” the A4A spokesperson said.
From an international perspective, an IATA spokesperson told ATW: “The executive order on extreme vetting is not expected to have any operational impact on airlines … IATA supports borders that are open to people and trade as a matter of principle, while recognizing that states have a responsibility to protect their citizens by securing their borders.”
The Trump administration announced its new travel ban just as the US’s second, revised ban, issued in March, reached its expiration date and the 50-day deadline for compliance with new security requirements passed.
Citing noncompliance—either by inadequacy or unwillingness—with the administration’s baseline requirements for security procedures issued worldwide in July, the administration singled out Chad, Libya, North Korea, Syria and Yemen as countries whose citizens will be unable to enter the US. Conditional restrictions on citizens from Iran, Somalia, Venezuela and Iraq were also articulated in the presidential proclamation.
The new ban is set to take effect Oct. 18.
“Most countries in the world now meet the new baseline, which is an important element of ensuring our security,” the White House said in a Sept. 24 statement. “The US government shared the new requirements with foreign governments in July. They were warned that failure to comply would have consequences and were given 50 days to work with the US to make improvements. In response, a number of nations that were not in compliance took action by, for example, increasing their information sharing with the US regarding terrorism threats, enhancing travel document security, or improving their reporting of lost and stolen passports.”
The new travel ban follows on two previous versions. The first—which was issued in January and set off considerable confusion for passengers, airlines and border inspection stations worldwide, as well as protests at airports in the US and abroad—banned all travel from citizens from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. A revised version of the ban released in March removed Iraq from the list. In the third version, Sudan has been removed.
Legal challenges have dogged the travel bans throughout the year. The US Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments Oct. 10 about the administration’s revised travel ban from March, in which the administration appealed lower US court rulings saying the ban was unconstitutional and the president had no legal authority. But the court canceled the hearing Sept. 25, following the issuance of the new travel ban a day prior, and directed lawyers in the case to submit new briefs by Oct. 5 to determine whether any new arguments have been rendered moot by the new ban.
Citing inadequate sharing of public safety and terrorism-related information, or just general refusal to cooperate, the US government is banning entry into the US—as immigrants and non-immigrants—all citizens from Chad, Libya, North Korea, Syria and Yemen. For Iran, exchange students will be permitted entry to the US, albeit subject to enhanced screening and vetting. Somalian non-immigrant travel to the US is allowed, as the country has satisfied the minimum US information-sharing requirements, but enhanced screening and vetting will still be required. The ban is also extended to “certain” Venezuelan government officials and their immediate family members, as the US government is now suspending their business and tourist visas. And Iraqi citizens are to be singled out for additional scrutiny to determine if they pose risks, according to a recommendation from the US Secretary of Homeland Security.
“The restrictions being imposed on these eight countries are conditional and may be lifted as they work with the US government … we look forward to all countries meeting the new requirements for cooperation with the United States,” the Trump administration said in statement Sept. 24.
Mark Nensel mark.nensel@penton.com
