Trump aims to ban citizens from some Muslim countries from entering the US

2024-05-05 20:51:49, Kosova & Bota CNA

Trump aims to ban citizens from some Muslim countries from entering the US

Joe Biden and Donald Trump

The candidate who is expected to secure the nomination of the Republican Party for the presidential race, Donald Trump, says that if he wins, he will restore the decision to ban the entry into the United States of citizens of some Muslim-majority countries, as of the day before they enter the office. As VOA correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the travel ban sparked backlash during his first term and was rescinded by President Joe Biden.

When Mr Trump ran for president in 2016 he pledged to change US immigration law to prevent terrorists from Islamic countries from entering the country.

"We will keep radical Islamic terrorists away from our country, 100 percent. We have no other options," Mr. Trump said in November 2016.

After taking office, he banned citizens from 7 Muslim-majority countries from entering the US, inciting protests and lawsuits, including from the organization for the protection of human rights, the American Civil Liberties Union.

"If there are real threats then these threats should be investigated on an individual basis. We cannot take it for granted that a certain group of citizens or a certain religious belief is more dangerous than another group", says Lee Gelernt, from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The decision to ban travel went all the way to the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority upheld it, which was greeted by Mr. Trump through online reactions as well as in the White House.

"We have to be tough and be sure," Mr. Trump said on June 25, 2018.

In 2020, Joe Biden campaigned against this decision by Mr. Trump.

"You don't have to accept a president who spreads hatred and exclusion and invents travel bans, bans on Muslims."

He overturned the decision after becoming President.

Four years later, Mr. Trump told supporters in Wisconsin this week that events unfolding in the Middle East have convinced him that the time has come for another travel ban decision.

"We don't need jihad in the United States. We do not need our cities to become hotbeds of terrorism. On the first day of my presidency, I will reinstate the travel ban, suspending the entry of refugees and keeping terrorists out of our country, as I have done before."

In this campaign, Mr. Biden has praised the contribution of immigrants to the United States, telling a group of donors this week that other countries have suffered because they are xenophobic.

"Why has China's economy stalled? Why is Japan struggling? Russia? India? Because of xenophobia. They don't like immigrants. Immigrants make us stronger. It's not a joke. It is not an exaggeration. Because we have an influx of workers who want to stay here and contribute".

Immigrants are making us stronger, Mr. Biden said, because "an influx of workers who want to stay here and contribute."

According to an April survey by the "Harvard CAPS-Harris" organization, immigration and inflation are among the main concerns of American voters./ VOA