Southern Philippines, Sulu Sea region next on Trump’s travel ban list?
The Southern Philippines and the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea region, together with other nations such as Pakistan, Colombia and Venezuela, could be next on an extended executive order by US President Donald Trump aimed at preventing people from those regions from entering the US, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based law firm focusing on business immigration claims.
Hammond Law Group, a long-established law firm, on February 1 released an updated note saying that it “has learned that a draft of an Executive Order modifying President Trump’s January 25, 2017 Executive Order, Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, is currently being circulated for review. This Executive Order, if signed, may add the following countries [and regions] to the travel ban implemented on January 25th: Egypt, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Colombia, Venezuela, southern Philippines, trans-Sahara (Mali), and Sulu/Sulawesi Seas Littoral. We believe the new Executive Order may be published within the next two weeks.”
The law firm, while stating that nothing has been confirmed so far, added that “given the manner in which the current travel ban was implemented and the way it was announced with no advanced notice, not to mention the lack of guidance with regard to how it was to be enforced, we have no choice but to suggest that nationals from any country on this new list (without regard to their immigration status) refrain from traveling outside the US until such time as we know more about this proposed Executive Order.”
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) National said it has no confirmation of additional countries being added to the existing travel ban and that the US Department of State informed them that it was a “rumour” and “false information.”
The denial comes after Donald Trump on his campaign trail last August called the Philippines a “terrorist nation.”
In case of the Philippines, filtering out people from the south by US immigration would be a quite cumbersome process since the place of residency is not mentioned in the Philippine passport. The ban would solely depend on the place of birth. This also applies for people from the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea region which includes citizens of Malaysia and Indonesia.
It is also difficult to foresee how Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte would react to such a measure.
Owing to the uncertainty, Hammond Law Group recommended that those who might be affected by the extended ban and have plans to travel to the US should do “as quickly as possible.”
The Southern Philippines and the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea region, together with other nations such as Pakistan, Colombia and Venezuela, could be next on an extended executive order by US President Donald Trump aimed at preventing people from those regions from entering the US, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based law firm focusing on business immigration claims. Hammond Law Group, a long-established law firm, on February 1 released an updated note saying that it "has learned that a draft of an Executive Order modifying President Trump’s January 25, 2017 Executive Order, Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, is currently being circulated...
The Southern Philippines and the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea region, together with other nations such as Pakistan, Colombia and Venezuela, could be next on an extended executive order by US President Donald Trump aimed at preventing people from those regions from entering the US, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based law firm focusing on business immigration claims.
Hammond Law Group, a long-established law firm, on February 1 released an updated note saying that it “has learned that a draft of an Executive Order modifying President Trump’s January 25, 2017 Executive Order, Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, is currently being circulated for review. This Executive Order, if signed, may add the following countries [and regions] to the travel ban implemented on January 25th: Egypt, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Colombia, Venezuela, southern Philippines, trans-Sahara (Mali), and Sulu/Sulawesi Seas Littoral. We believe the new Executive Order may be published within the next two weeks.”
The law firm, while stating that nothing has been confirmed so far, added that “given the manner in which the current travel ban was implemented and the way it was announced with no advanced notice, not to mention the lack of guidance with regard to how it was to be enforced, we have no choice but to suggest that nationals from any country on this new list (without regard to their immigration status) refrain from traveling outside the US until such time as we know more about this proposed Executive Order.”
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) National said it has no confirmation of additional countries being added to the existing travel ban and that the US Department of State informed them that it was a “rumour” and “false information.”
The denial comes after Donald Trump on his campaign trail last August called the Philippines a “terrorist nation.”
In case of the Philippines, filtering out people from the south by US immigration would be a quite cumbersome process since the place of residency is not mentioned in the Philippine passport. The ban would solely depend on the place of birth. This also applies for people from the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea region which includes citizens of Malaysia and Indonesia.
It is also difficult to foresee how Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte would react to such a measure.
Owing to the uncertainty, Hammond Law Group recommended that those who might be affected by the extended ban and have plans to travel to the US should do “as quickly as possible.”
