Trump’sTravel Ban and the Rights of Green Card Holders
When President Trump’s initial immigration executive order declaring a travel ban was issued, one of the most critical concerns was how the ban would affect Permanent Residents or Green Card holders. This Order titled: “Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States” essentially provides for: a) A 90-day suspension from entry into the United States of anyone from seven predominantly Muslim countries namely Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia; B) A 120-day suspension of the US Refugee Admissions Program(USRAP); C) An indefinite ban on Syrian refugees; D)Prioritization of entry for religious minorities facing persecution in their countries; E)Case by Case exceptions to the suspensions. This Order was an apparent step toward fulfilling a key campaign promise to introduce “extreme vetting” for Immigrants and refugees entering the United States.
Confusion and chaos quickly arose as implementation commenced, primarily because of arbitrary and poor enforcement of the ban. Homeland security personnel were not given proper directives on implementation and enforcement. Many Green Card holders and persons with valid visas were refused entry; some were sent back to their home countries or the countries from which their flights originated while others were detained. Many complained of and protested against a palpable groundswell of anti- immigrant sentiments at the airports and border posts which gave impetus to arbitrariness and excesses. So many persons with Permanent residency status and valid visas from countries not listed in the ban were subjected to ill-treatment.
Following the hue and cry and the successful court challenges, a revised executive order was issued by the president. Unlike the original travel reason the subject is the primary focus of this writing.
When you become a permanent resident, you acquire certain legal and constitutional rights and feel relatively more secure in the hierarchy of visa holders. Yours is referred to as “Immigrant Visa” while other visa categories are referred to as “nonimmigrant visas’’. You are thrust on the path of citizenship and enjoy most of the rights of a citizen; so the idea of an arbitrary ban in which your due process right as well your right of protection from religion-based discrimination is under severe threat of violation was viewed by many in the Immigration law circles, the political class, the private sector and the immigrant community as excessive, counterproductive and dysfunctional.
It is for the foregoing reasons that I join the legion of legal commentators in continuing to raise the level of publicity and awareness of the legal and constitutional rights of a United States Permanent Resident/Green Card Holder.
These rights include but are not limited to the following: 1.)To reside permanently, anywhere in the US as long as you do not engage in any conduct that will make you removable/ deportable under the US Immigration law. 2.) To be lawfully employed anywhere in the US except where the jobs are, by law, reserved for US citizens. 3.) Under the Fifth Amendment, a permanent resident has the right “not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law”. Several reports of due process violations and arbitrary exercise of authority arising from the ban violate the fifth and fourteen amendments of the US constitution. 4.) The right to Equal Protection of laws derived from the fifth and fourteen amendments. Singling out a class of persons who are lawfully admissible into the US on the basis of their religion and nationality for denial of immigration benefits is unconstitutional. Here the ban was focused on a select group of Muslim countries. 5.) First amendment rights of religious freedom and protection from discrimination including protection from government establishment of religion. The Homeland Security Secretary being asked under the executive order to “prioritize” refugee claims by members of a “minority religion” faces credible constitutional challenges of first amendment violation. 6.) The right to apply for citizenship and become a citizen upon meeting the eligibility criteria. 7.) The right to own property and apply for Driver’s License in the United States. 8.) The right to obtain such government benefits as Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid benefits if eligible. 9. The right to leave and return to the United States under prescribed conditions. 10.) The right to join certain branches of the US armed forces.
A Green Card holder has almost all the same rights as a US citizen except the right to bear arms (second amendment); the right to run for a federal office and the right to vote. As of the date of this writing, news of the first successful legal challenge to the revised ban has just come in but the battle is far from over as the matter will most likely be resolved at the Supreme Court. The President’s broad powers over foreign affairs matters under Article II of the US constitution must be kept in view. Section 212 (F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) states: “Whenever the President finds that the entry of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he may deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrant’s or impose on the entry of aliens, any restrictions he may deem appropriate.” However, a 1965 amendment to the same law provides that:” No person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth or place of residence.
With the rights here-in enumerated, especially the constitutional rights, it is fair to state that the immigration benefits to which Green Card Holders are legally entitled is unlikely to be threatened by the executive order.