March 10, 2017

How Trump's new Muslim ban is even more dangerous than the first one

Arun Gupta, The Progressive - The revised order affords the Trump Administration wide latitude in broadening the scope of the order later on, with language that will allow the profiling of entire countries so as to exclude their citizens. It states that the U.S. government will conduct 'a worldwide review' to determine what 'additional information will be needed from each foreign country' to assess the application of any person from one of the specified countries seeking admission to the United States so as to ensure they are 'not a security or public-safety threat.'

The order adds that 'At any point ... the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, may submit to the President the names of any additional countries recommended for similar treatment.' And, 'The Secretary of Homeland Security may conclude that certain information is needed from particular countries even if it is not needed from every country.'

Put together, this language could enable wildly differing criteria for nationals from one country to the next, as well as countries coming on and off the list at the whim of the White House.

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