Trump’s immigration and refugee ban

President Donald Trump’s first executive order temporarily restricting travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and banning refugees was blocked in federal court. His revised order is narrower in scope, but will his administration expand on it in coming months?

President Trump’s plans for a wall between Mexico and the United States and a travel ban against citizens from six Muslim-majority countries may not be the best way to fix the country’s immigration laws. Immigration law professor David Martin, who helped shape immigration policy under the Clinton and Obama administrations, thinks Trump proposals are not the solution.

The law does not use language about Muslims or Christianity, which will make it more acceptable to the courts, says Mana Yegani, an immigration lawyer based in Houston.

An earlier order signed one week after Trump took office barred entry to all refugees for 120 days, and to all citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. Refugees from Syria were barred indefinitely. Federal courts blocked that order following worldwide outrage and protests.

President Donald Trump emphasized the importance of supporting the victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants in his address to Congress. Yet many immigrants feel his agenda unfairly portrays them as security threats.