New travel ban could block tens of thousands

Fresh proclamation bars eight countries, will last indefinitely.

President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban could block the issuance of tens of thousands of visas each year to people who want to immi- grate to the United States or come on business or as tourists, according to a Wash- ington Post review of State Department data, and it is threatening to short-circuit the impending Supreme Court showdown over whether Trump can lawfully impose such wide-rang- ing travel restrictions.

On Monday, the Supreme Court put off — at least for now — a hearing on Trump’s previous travel ban, asking instead for briefs on whether the latest restrictions mean there is nothing left for the justices to decide.

Opponents of the ban, meanwhile, vowed to fight on, asserting that the new measure inflicted some of the same harms of the first, and that it was driven by the same discriminatory intent.

“For us, this was a Muslim ban, and it remains a Muslim ban,” said Zahra Bil- loo, the executive director of the San Francisco chap- ter of the Council on Amer- ican-Islamic Relations.

The newest ban is in some ways even more expansive than the last — remaining in effect indefinitely, and impos- ing restrictions on eight, rather than six, countries. But unlike the last ban, the restrictions vary from place to place, and countries that increase their cooperation and information-sharing with the U.S. might be able to find their way off the list.

For Syria and North Korea, the president’s proclamation blocks immigrants wanting to relocate to the United States and non-immigrants wish- ing to visit in some capacity. For Iran, the proclamation blocks both immigrants and non-immigrants, though it exempts students and those participating in a cultural exchange.

The proclamation blocks people from Chad, Libya and Yemen from coming to the United States as immigrants or on business or tourist visas, and it blocks people from Somalia from coming as immigrants. The proclamation names Venezuela, but it only blocks certain government officials.

A Washington Post review of State Department data found that more than 65,000 visas were issued in fiscal 2016 that would now likely fall under the ban.

One piece of the previous executive order — the 120-day ban on all refugees entering the U.S. — remains in effect until Oct. 24. The latest ban leaves unclear what will happen after that.

Opponents of the ban were largely mum on what the legal path forward would be.

“It does continue to injure our current plaintiffs,” said Justin Cox, a staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center.

Those in Chad, in particular, seemed surprised.

“The reaction has been astonishment and then indignation,” said Nour Ibedou, d irector of the Chadian Human Rights Association. “We do not understand how our country achieved this lack of trust from the United States.”