Trump’s "Refugee Ban" — Annotated by a Former Top Department of Homeland Security Lawyer
This executive order is clearly designed to direct — or more often signal, with details yet to come — fulfillment of some of candidate Trump’s broad statements or promises in the immigration arena, notably including promises like “extreme vetting” and a “Muslim ban.” Later in his campaign, the rhetoric shifted somewhat. Instead of a religion-based ban, for example, Donald Trump and his surrogates spoke more of blocking migration from countries with “terrorist involvement”; a ban focused on countries is probably less problematic than a ban based on religion, as a matter of both politics and law.
This order continues and refines that rhetorical trend, but its immediate suspension of the refugee admissions program and all migration from seven predominantly Muslim countries can be billed to core Trump supporters as a major achievement — even as it inspires protests and legal challenges.
Two days before this order was formally issued, a leaked draft version appeared in the press. The final order below contains a few significant modifications from that draft, which will be noted in the annotations. — David A. Martin