Executive Order 13769 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Executive Order 13769

Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States
U.S. President Donald Trump signing the order at the Pentagon, with Vice President Mike Pence (left) and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis
Executive Order 13769 in the Federal Register
Type	Executive order
Executive Order number	13769
Signed by	Donald Trump on January 27, 2017 (2017-01-27)
Federal Register details
Publication date	{{#property:P577}}
Document citation	{{#property:P1031}}
Summary
Suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days* Restricts admission of citizens from seven countries for 90 days* Orders list of countries for entry restrictions after 90 days Suspends admission of Syrian refugees indefinitely Prioritizes refugee claims by individuals from minority religions on the basis of religious-based persecution Expedites a biometric tracking system Other provisions * Not in force as of 3 February  2017 (2017 -02-03)[update]

Visas issued in 2016 for the 7 countries affected by section 3 of the executive order. Total is shown by size, and color breaks down type of visa

Number of refugees admitted from October 1, 2016 through January 31, 2017, and state settled in. National origin for 7 countries in Executive Order colored; all other countries grouped, in gray.

Executive Order 13769, titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, labeled the "Muslim ban" by Donald Trump and his supporters and critics alike, and commonly known as such, or commonly referred to as the Trump travel ban, or Trump Muslim travel ban, was an executive order by President Trump. Except for the extent to which it was blocked by various courts, it was in effect from January 27, 2017, until March 6, 2017, when it was superseded by Executive Order 13780, a second order sharing the title "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States".

Part of a series of executive actions, Executive Order 13769 lowered the number of refugees to be admitted into the United States in 2017 to 50,000, suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for 120 days, suspended the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely, directed some cabinet secretaries to suspend entry of those whose countries do not meet adjudication standards under U.S. immigration law for 90 days, and included exceptions on a case-by-case basis. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) listed these countries as Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Iraq was also included until it was dropped following sharp criticism from the Iraqi government and promises of improved vetting of Iraqi citizens in collaboration with the Iraqi government. More than 700 travelers were detained, and up to 60,000 visas were "provisionally revoked".

The signing of the Executive Order provoked widespread condemnation and protests and resulted in legal intervention against the enforcement of the order. Critics referred to it as a "Muslim ban," because President Trump had previously called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, and because all of the affected countries had a Muslim majority, although the affected Muslims were only 12% of the global Muslim population. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates were also notably excluded, despite being located in the same region as the countries subject to the ban and home to large Muslim populations. Despite this fact, critics proposed a theory that this was due to Trump having business ties with these countries. A nationwide temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued on February 3, 2017 in the case Washington v. Trump, which was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on February 9, 2017. Consequently, the Department of Homeland Security stopped enforcing portions of the order and the State Department re-validated visas that had been previously revoked. Later, other orders (Executive Order 13780 and Presidential Proclamation 9645) were signed by President Trump and superseded Executive Order 13769. On June 26, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the third Executive Order (Presidential Proclamation 9645) and its accompanying travel ban in a 5–4 decision, with the majority opinion being written by Chief Justice John Roberts.

On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden revoked Executive Order 13780 and its related proclamations with Presidential Proclamation 10141.

Provisions

The version of the executive order posted at the White House website differs from the Presidentially approved order published by the Federal Register.

Section 1, describing the purpose of the order, invoked the September 11 attacks, stating that then State Department policy prevented consular officers from properly scrutinizing the visa applications of the attackers. However, none of the September 11 hijackers were from any of the seven banned countries. When announcing his executive action, Trump made similar references to the attacks several times.

The order excluded countries of origin of radicalized Muslim perpetrators of attacks against the United States, such as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan. It also did not include any Muslim countries where the Trump Organization had conducted business, such as the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. Political activist and legal scholar David G. Post opined in The Washington Post that Trump had "allowed business interests to interfere with his public policy making", and called for his impeachment.

Visitors, immigrants, and refugees

Section 3 of the order blocks entry of people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, for at least 90 days, regardless of whether or not they hold valid non-diplomatic visas. This order affects about 218 million people who are citizens of these countries. After 90 days a list of additional countries—not just those specified by a subparagraph of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)—must be prepared. The cited portion of the INA refers to aliens who have been present in or are nationals of Iraq, Syria, and other countries designated by the Secretary of State. Citing Section 3(c) of the executive order, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Edward J. Ramotowski issued a notice that "provisionally revoke[s] all valid nonimmigrant and immigrant visas of nationals" of the designated countries.

The secretary of homeland security, in consultation with the secretary of state and the director of national intelligence, must conduct a review to determine the information needed from any country to adjudicate any visa, admission, or any other benefit under the INA. Within 30 days the secretary of homeland security must list countries that do not provide adequate information. The foreign governments then have 60 days to provide the information on their nationals after which the secretary of homeland security must submit to the president a list of countries recommended for inclusion on a presidential proclamation that would prohibit the entry of foreign nationals from countries that do not provide the information.

Section 5 suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for at least 120 days but stipulates that the program can be resumed for citizens of the specified countries if the secretary of state, secretary of homeland security and the director of national intelligence agree to do so. The suspension for Syrian refugees is indefinite. The number of new refugees allowed in 2017 is capped to 50,000 (reduced from 110,000). After the resumption of USRAP refugee applications will be prioritized based on religion-based persecutions only in the case that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in that country.

The order said that the secretaries of state and homeland security may, on a case-by-case basis and when in the national interest, issue visas or other immigration benefits to nationals of countries for which visas and benefits are otherwise blocked. Section 7 calls for an expedited completion and implementation of a biometric entry/exit tracking system for all travelers coming into the United States, without reference to whether they are foreigners or not. (The similar provision in Section 8 of Executive Order 13780 is limited to in-scope travelers, which in 2016 were defined by DHS with respect to biometric entry/exit as all non-U.S. citizens with the ages of 14–79. See Executive Order 13780 at § Effect.) Section 7 orders DHS to follow the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, which recommended in the 9/11 Commission Report, that a biometric entry and exist system be created and implemented.

Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly has stated to Congress that DHS is considering a requirement that refugees and visa applicants reveal social media passwords as part of security screening. The idea was one of many to strengthen border security, as well as requesting financial records. In 2011 the Obama administration released a memo revealing a similar plan to vet social media accounts for visa applicants. John Kelly has stated that the temporary ban is important and that the DHS is developing what "extreme vetting" might look like.

Green-card holders

There was some early confusion about the status of green-card holders (i.e., lawful permanent residents). According to the lawsuit filed by the states of Washington and Minnesota, dated February 3, the government had changed its position five times to date. Initially, on the evening of Friday January 27, the Department of Homeland Security sent out a guidance to airlines stated "lawful permanent residents are not included and may continue to travel to the USA". CNN reported that it was overruled by the White House overnight. Early Saturday, January 28, the Department of Homeland Security's acting press secretary Gillian Christensen said in an e-mail to Reuters that the order barred green-card holders from the affected countries. By Saturday afternoon White House officials said they would need a case-by-case waiver to return. On Sunday White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said that green-card holders would not be prevented from returning to the United States.

According to the Associated Press no green-card holders were ultimately denied entry to the U.S. although several initially spent "long hours" in detention. On January 29, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly deemed entry of lawful permanent residents into the U.S. to be "in the national interest" exempting them from the ban according to the provisions of the executive order. On February 1, White House counsel Don McGahn issued a memorandum to the heads of the departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security clarifying that the ban-provisions of the executive order do not apply to lawful permanent residents. Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that green-card holders from affected countries "no longer need a waiver because, if they are a legal permanent resident, they won't need it anymore".

Dual citizens

There was similar confusion about whether the order affected dual citizens of a banned country and a non-banned country. The State Department said that the order did not affect U.S. citizens who also hold citizenship of one of the seven banned countries. On January 28, the State Department stated that other travelers with dual nationality of one of these countries—for example, an Iranian who also holds a Canadian passport—would not be permitted to enter. However, the International Air Transport Association told their airlines that dual nationals who hold a passport from a non-banned country would be allowed in.

The United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a press release that the restrictions apply to those traveling from the listed countries not those that merely have their citizenship. The confusion led companies and institutions to take a more cautious approach; for example, Google told its dual-national employees to stay in the United States until more clarity could be provided. On January 31, the State Department updated the restrictions to allow persons holding dual citizenship to enter the US provided they possessed a US visa and entered using a passport from an unrestricted country.

All entrants who are subject to adjudication

Section 4 orders development of a uniform screening procedure as part of the adjudication process for immigration benefits; components of the screening procedure are suggested but not determined. Section 1 ("Purpose") requires screening to identify those who would "place violent ideologies higher than American law" or "oppress Americans of any ... gender or sexual orientation". The only suggested component of the uniform screening procedure in section 4 that specifically mentions a potential entrant's mindset is "a mechanism to assess whether or not the applicant has the intent to commit criminal or terrorist acts after entering the United States". Trump's August 15 speech proposed an ideological test for all immigrants to screen out people who might harbor violent or oppressive attitudes toward women or gays. In response, immigration expert Stephen Yale-Loehr suggested that an ideological test could involve screening immigration applicants' social media pages as part of a routine background check. The Trump administration has formally proposed adding optional collection of social media account information for visa applicants from China affecting approximately 3.6 million people annually. DHS has publicly proposed to ask some entrants for social media passwords and financial records, barring entry to those who do not comply; it regards the information as particularly important for vetting entrants from states such as Somalia and Syria, whose governments have poorer records systems. According to Sophia Cope, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, foreign nationals may be denied entry to the U.S. for refusing to turn over device passwords, and the law is not clear for permanent residents; device passwords may be used to access social media when the user is logged in to the social media account. Part (b) of Section 4 requires the departments of State and Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, and the FBI to present progress reports on the uniform screening procedure to the President, the first of which is due 60 days from the date the order was issued.

Impact

Terrorism

Trump's stated reason for issuing the executive order was to prevent terrorism. A 2021 study in the American Political Science Review found that Trump's refugee ban (which caused a 66% reduction in refugee resettlement) had no impact on crime rates.

Implementation at airports

Shortly after the enactment of the executive order, at 4:42 pm on January 27, border officials across the country began enforcing the new rules. The New York Times reported people with various backgrounds and statuses being denied entry or sent back; this included refugees and minority Christians from the affected countries as well as students and green-card holders returning to the United States after visits abroad.

People from the countries mentioned in the order with valid visas were turned away from flights to the U.S. Some were stranded in a foreign country while in transit. Several people already on planes flying to the U.S. at the time the order was signed were detained on arrival. On January 28 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) estimated that there were 100 to 200 people being detained in U.S. airports, and hundreds were barred from boarding U.S.-bound flights. About 60 legal permanent residents were reported as detained at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. Travelers were also detained at O'Hare International Airport without access to their cellphones and unable to access legal assistance. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) offers free legal help to travelers who experience problems with the "ban". Attorneys are stationed, around the clock, at the Chicago airport and CAIR also encourages travelers to register with them, prior to travel. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on January 28 that the order was applied to "less than one percent" of the 325,000 air travelers who arrived in the United States. By January 29 DHS estimated that 375 travelers had been affected with 109 travelers in transit and another 173 prevented from boarding flights. In some airports there were reports that Border Patrol agents were requesting access to travelers' social media accounts.

On February, 3 attorneys for the DOJ's Office of Immigration Litigation advised a judge hearing one of the legal challenges to the order that more than 100,000 visas have been revoked as a consequence of the order. They also advised the judge that no legal permanent residents have been denied entry. The State Department later revised this figure downward to fewer than 60,000 revoked visas and clarified that the larger DOJ figure incorrectly included visas that were exempted from the travel ban (such as diplomatic visas) and expired visas.

Number of affected people

On January 30, Trump said on Twitter "Only 109 people ... were detained and held for questioning"; Homeland Security officials later said this number referred to the initial hours of the order's implementation. On January 31, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that 721 people were detained or denied boarding under the order; CBP also reported 1,060 waivers for green-card holders had been processed; 75 waivers had been granted for persons with immigrant and nonimmigrant visas; and 872 waivers for refugees had been granted. On February 23, the Justice Department provided the ACLU with a list of 746 people who were detained or processed by CBP during the twenty-six hours from Judge Ann Donnelly's ruling at 9:37pm on January 28 to 11:59pm on January 29; the ACLU has identified at least 10 people meeting this description who are not on the list they received. Detentions continued at Chicago's O'Hare airport on January 30.

The effect of the order was far broader, however, than the number of people detained. In terms of barred visa-holders, the federal government reported that more than "100,000 visas for foreigners inside and outside the United States have also been revoked, at least temporarily." The Washington Post fact-checker, citing State Department figures, reported that 60,000 U.S. visas were issued in the seven affected countries in fiscal year 2015. The New York Times reported that 86,000 nonimmigrant-temporary visas (mostly for tourism, business travel, temporary work, or education) have been granted to citizens in the seven affected countries in the 2015 fiscal year. The executive order also barred people from the seven countries from obtaining new immigrant visas. In 2015, 52,365 people from the seven affected countries had been issued green cards (which are typically awarded soon after the arrival of an immigrant visa-holder to the United States); "[i]n general, about half of recent new legal permanent residents are new arrivals to the country, and the other half had their status adjusted after living in the United States."

In the weeks of 2017 prior to the executive order, the U.S. admitted approximately 1,800 refugees per week (total) from the seven countries covered by the order. While the executive order was in effect, the U.S. received two refugees from those countries.

Impact on U.S. industry

Google called its traveling employees back to the U.S. in case the order prevented them from returning. About 100 of the company's employees were thought to be affected by the order. Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a letter to his staff that "it's painful to see the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues. We've always made our view on immigration issues known publicly and will continue to do so." Amazon.com Inc., citing disruption in travel for its employees, and Expedia Inc., citing impact to its customers and refund costs, filed declarations in support of the states of Washington and Minnesota in their case against the executive order, State of Washington v. Trump.

However, Committee for Economic Development CEO Steve Odland and several other executives and analysts commented that the order will not lead to significant changes in IT hiring practices among US companies, since the countries affected are not the primary source of foreign talent. According to the Hill "a cross-section of legal experts and travel advocates" say that the order "could have a chilling effect on U.S. tourism, global business and enrollment in American universities".

One effect of Trump's election and policies, and in particular, Trump's executive order, is the "Trump Slump" on the U.S. tourism industry, which contributed $1.47 (~$1.68 trillion in 2021) trillion to the country's GDP in 2014. As reported by Frommer's, according to Global Business Travel Association, as well as local tourist offices, with policies such as Executive Order 13769 making foreigners feeling less welcome, fewer tourists began traveling to the U.S., with all foreign tourism down 6.8%, online searches for flights from foreign countries down 17%, and foreign business travel dropping by $185 million during the first week of the immigration suspension. Economic Research Firm Oxford Economics found that Los Angeles County could lose 800,000 visitors—who would otherwise account for $736 million (~$811 million in 2021) in tourism spending— as a direct result of the ban.

Travelers and patients

According to Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, the order distressed citizens of the affected countries including those holding valid green cards and valid visas. Those outside the U.S. fear that they will not be allowed in, while those already in the country fear that they will not be able to leave, even temporarily, because they would not be able to return.

Some sources have stated that the executive order, if upheld, is likely to contribute to a doctor shortage in the United States, disproportionately affecting rural areas and underprovided specialties. According to an analysis by a Harvard Medical School group of professors, research analysts and physicians, the executive order is likely to reduce the number of physicians in the United States as approximately 5% of the foreign-trained physicians in the United States were trained in the seven countries targeted by the executive order. These doctors are disproportionately likely to practice medicine in rural, underserved regions and specialties facing a large shortage of practitioners. According to The Medicus Firm, which recruits doctors for hard-to-fill jobs, Trump's executive order covers more than 15,000 physicians in the United States.

Impact on education

Many universities were impacted by the issuance of the travel ban. One example is Bennington College. Since nearly twenty percent of students are from around the world, some students were not allowed to return. Even students who planned to attend this college in the future were unable to. Universities like New York University, updated its students on each iteration of the travel ban to keep students educated on what they can do if they are affected by the order. Many university administrators believe that due to President Trump's view on immigration, students abroad have become reluctant to study in the United States.

Students that have the F1 visa are put at risk with this executive order. Since F1 visas only allow these visa holders one-entry into the United States, this executive order may not allow these individuals to come back if they decide to leave the country for a school break. Due to the ban, the students on F1 visas may not be able to see their families for several years especially if their parents cannot enter the United States as a result of the ban.

Timeline

Revocation and replacement

In February 2017, Politico reported Trump "suggest[ing] that the White House is trying to redraft the order to strengthen it against legal challenges." The federal government also said in court filings that a new executive order is planned to be issued to address constitutional concerns about EO 13769. A White House official later quoted by CNN suggested the new order was being delayed, in part by the administration's expectations about the executive order's perception relative to other events in the news cycle. (Trump initially claimed the replacement order would be issued the week of February 19. On February 22 the Trump administration said the replacement order would be delayed until the following week. That week, the White House expected the order to be issued Wednesday, March 1.) According to the White House, the order has been "finalized" since at least February 22, although at that time agencies were still working out how to implement it.

According to an administration officials, a redraft version of the executive order will focus on the same seven countries minus Iraq, but exempt lawful permanent residents and those who already hold visas, whether or not they have entered the United States. The new executive order would reportedly also drop the indefinite suspension of Syrian refugee immigration and reduce it to the 120-day suspension specified for other countries in the order.

A redrafted executive order was issued March 6, 2017. The redraft drops Iraq from some of the provisions regarding the seven countries specified by executive order 13769. Tillerson, McMaster, and Mattis had advocated for the exclusion of Iraq. The redraft executive order removes the exemption for religious minorities in the banned countries that was present in the first order. The redrafted order does not apply to green-card holders or anyone with a valid visa who is inside the U.S. The redrafted order includes case-by-case waiver process that was not available to refugees from the countries affected by the first order.

On March 15, 2017, United States district judge Derrick Watson of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii issued a temporary restraining order preventing Executive Order 13780 from going into effect, on the grounds that the State of Hawaii showed a strong likelihood of success on their Establishment Clause claim in asserting that Executive Order 13780 was in fact a "Muslim ban". Judge Watson stated in his ruling, "When considered alongside the constitutional injuries and harms discussed above, and the questionable evidence supporting the Government's national security motivations, the balance of equities and public interests justify granting the Plaintiffs. Nationwide relief is appropriate in light of the likelihood of success on the Establishment Clause claim." The ruling was denounced by President Donald Trump as being "an unprecedented judicial overreach", and stated that the ruling would be appealed, and that "This ruling makes us look weak."

In a per curiam decision, on June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court reinstated key provisions of the order. The court also granted certiorari and set oral arguments for the fall term.

See also