Travel ban expiring, Trump pursues fill-in
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is weighing replacing his ban on travelers entering the U.S. from six predominantly Muslim nations with a set of more specific and tailored restrictions based, in part, on how much information countries share with the U.S., officials said.
The Department of Homeland Security has sent Trump recommendations for entry restrictions and additional visa requirements based on shortcomings in the information each country shares with the U.S. and an assessment of the risk of terrorist infiltration the nation poses, administration officials told reporters on Friday. The changes could be put in place as soon as this weekend with a new proclamation from Trump, officials said.
A central part of Trump’s travel ban is set to expire Sunday, 90 days after the Supreme Court allowed the restrictions to go forward.
“The acting secretary has recommended actions that are tough and that are tailored, including travel restrictions and enhanced screening for certain countries,” said Miles Taylor, a counselor to acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke.
Taylor and other officials on a conference call for reporters declined to say what countries would be affected or even whether it would be fewer or more than the six cited in the travel ban. They said the decisions would be left to the White House.
Trump huddled with Duke, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, his director of national intelligence and his national security adviser Friday to discuss the matter, White House spokesman Lindsay Walters said.
Taylor said the Homeland Security Department in its assessment concentrated on factors such as terrorist and criminal history information each country shares with the U.S., the security of passports issued and how well each country
establishes the identities of passport holders. The U.S. notified all countries in July of “baseline” standards they would need to meet to avoid travel restrictions.
While some countries were unable or unwilling to meet the guidelines, most provided the necessary information to meet the baseline, Taylor said. The State Department made clear to countries that they could face penalties if they did not provide the necessary information, he said.
The State Department would issue guidance to consular offices next week about how to implement any new restrictions, said Carl Risch, assistant secretary for consular affairs at the State Department.
“We regularly send guidance to the field and we would expect to do that next week if there’s any ambiguity about how a visa applicant is to be interviewed,” Risch told reporters Friday.
The travel restrictions could further inflame geopolitical tensions around the world as Trump is engaged in heated rhetoric against the governments of Iran, North Korea and Venezuela. Several countries did not respond to the U.S.’ requests for more information.
“Some countries didn’t even have the courtesy to say ‘fly a kite,’” Taylor said. “We’re talking about countries that were willfully noncompliant and refused to engage with the United States. Some of those, perhaps, wouldn’t surprise you.”
He declined the identify those countries.
The U.S. continued negotiating with some of the nations affected right up until Sept. 15, when Duke submitted her report to the White House. Taylor said some of them provided enough information or made changes to get removed from the list of countries with inadequate security.
The Department of Homeland Security sent Trump a classified report Sept. 15 with details on its review of the vetting process for people entering the U.S., Taylor said. The report included a list of countries recommended for travel restrictions going forward.
The current order bans entry by people from Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Syria. It was scheduled to expire Sunday after the Supreme Court’s ruling in June tailored the ban to only include those who have no “bona fide relationship” to the U.S. The original travel restrictions caused confusion at U.S. ports of entry and set off spontaneous protests at airports when it was unveiled in January.