Grandparents bear the brunt of Trump’s ire

The Trump administration in the US has put into effect a modified version of the travel ban for visa-applicants from six Muslim-majority countries and refugees, which is as bizarre as the earlier one which had led to a nationwide furore and a subsequent court stay. The six countries are Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen. A Supreme Court ruling on Monday had lifted parts of lower court injunctions blocking Trump’s divisive March order, and mandated that those who lacked a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States” could now be denied entry to the US. New visa applicants from the six countries seeking to prove a personal relationship must have either a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling already in the US to be eligible for entry. Other family relations, such a grandparents and fiancés, would not be counted. This indeed defies logic.

The new guidelines make it clear that someone who has accepted a job offer from a company in the US or an invitation to hold a lecture at an American university may enter but that a non-profit group may not seek out citizens of the affected countries. Airlines have been given 21 days to put in place increased explosive screening and have 120 days to comply with other security measures including enhanced screening of airline passengers. The American media has been very critical of the Trump administration’s strange new rules but it has no option but to wait until the judiciary delivers on the whole issue of the travel ban. Trump has indeed made the travel ban and now the modified version of it the cornerstone of his policy on immigration and justifies it on the terror attacks emanating from these countries.