People denied entry to the US under Donald Trump’s first travel ban can now reapply for visas following a legal settlement reached in a federal court.<\/p>\n
The US government will now contact individuals turned away at borders as a result of the executive order that came into force on 27 January.<\/p>\n
The agreement does not guarantee that applicants will receive new visas.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump signed the original order in January barring people from seven Muslim countries from entering the US.<\/p>\n
The move sparked numerous protests and legal challenges.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump later defended the\u00a0executive order, saying it was “not a Muslim ban”.<\/p>\n
A week after it was implemented, a federal judge in Seattle suspended it nationwide, allowing banned visitors to travel to the US, pending an appeal by the administration.<\/p>\n
The new legal agreement, which was announced on Thursday, obliges the US government to act in “good faith” when processing the paperwork of all applicants.<\/p>\n
The seven countries affected by the initial 90-day travel ban were Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Iraq was later removed from the list.<\/p>\n
Some visa categories, such as diplomats and UN workers, were not included in the suspension.<\/p>\n
Among the individuals initially barred from entry to the US were two Iraqi nationals; Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi.<\/p>\n
They were stopped and detained on arrival at John F Kennedy airport in New York.<\/p>\n
Human rights groups, including the National Immigration Law Centre (NILC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), filed a lawsuit in New York to demand the release of the two men, who were in the air bound for the US when the executive order was signed.<\/p>\n
Mr Darweesh, who had worked as a US Army interpreter, was later released by border officials.<\/p>\n
“Although the government dragged its feet for far too long, it has finally agreed to do the right thing,” said Lee Gelernt, of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).<\/p>\n
The settlement, Mr Gelernt says, provides those excluded under the first Muslim ban with “proper notice of their right to come to the United States”.<\/p>\n
He added that while this was progress, the “legal fight against Muslim ban 2.0” would continue with a Supreme Court hearing in October.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of nationals from the countries affected by the ban in January were detained on arrival despite having valid visas and residency documents.<\/p>\n
The move was suspended on 3 February after it was challenged in court.<\/p>\n
On 6 March, Mr Trump attempted to revise the ban on individuals from the six countries to include\u00a0grandparents and other relatives\u00a0of US residents.<\/p>\n
In July, the US Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s revised executive order but judges gave the government the right to enforce a separate ban on refugees, pending a government appeal against a federal court order.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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