Travel Ban Archives - Tennessee Star

State Department to Waive Fees for Immigrants Denied Visas During Travel Ban to Reapply

January 20, 2022January 19, 2022 Admin

The State Department will waive fees for immigrants seeking visas to come to the U.S. if they were previously denied one because of the Trump administration’s travel ban, according to a Wednesday announcement.

“An IV applicant who is the beneficiary of a valid immigration petition may submit another visa application after being refused and in most circumstances they are required to pay again the relevant application fees,” according to a Federal Register rule published Wednesday. “The Department exempts from such fees only those IV applicants who are applying again after being refused” a visa under the travel ban.

The ban prevented immigration from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. President Joe Biden issued an executive order repealing the ban on his first day in office in January 2021.

Biden’s Past Criticism of COVID Travel Plans Boomerangs as He Imposes His Own

November 28, 2021November 29, 2021 Admin

President Joe Biden was forced to confront his own past criticisms of travel bans on Friday when he imposed his own travel restrictions on mostly African countries where a new and concerning COVID-19 virus variant has emerged.

Back in 2020, then-candidate Biden derided then-President Donald Trump as ’xenophobic’ and argued travel bans wouldn’t ‘stop’ the pandemic I after the Republican candidate placed restrictions on travel from China and Europe amid the earliest COVID-19 outbreaks.

DeSantis Calls Potential Travel Ban on Florida a ‘Ridiculous But Very Damaging Farce,’ a ‘Political Attack’ on the State

February 13, 2021April 18, 2021 Admin

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis slammed the Biden Administration Thursday after White House officials floated to the media that it was considering a travel ban to and from the Sunshine State because of coronavirus concerns.

The Miami Herald reported on Wednesday that the White House was looking at “domestic travel restrictions as COVID mutation surges in Florida.”

Controversial Biden Executive Order on New Refugees Likely to Find Support in Virginia

February 6, 2021February 5, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

Based on the past actions and statements from Virginia’s Democrat Governor Ralph Northam, President Joe Biden’s controversial executive order increasing refugee resettlements is likely to find support in Virginia.

After a 2019 executive order by former president Donald J. Trump giving localities autonomy over refugee resettlement, Northam wrote a letter to then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying the state would happily continue accepting refugees.

Trump Administration Extends Travel Ban on Mexican Border for Another Month

April 21, 2020April 20, 2020 Admin

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the ban on all non-essential travel along the Mexican and Canadian borders will be extended for an additional 30 days.

The governments of Mexico, Canada and the United States mutually agreed to keep their borders closed off to non-essential traffic for another month as they continue to fight the spread of coronavirus, acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf said Monday. The announcement came just two days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the U.S.-Canada border ban would be extended.

“In close collaboration, the US, Mexico, and Canada have each agreed to extend restrictions on non-essential travel across their shared borders for 30 additional days,” Wolf said in a prepared statement.

Report: More Than 40,000 People Have Arrived in the US from China Since Trump Restricted Travel

April 5, 2020April 4, 2020 Admin

Tens of thousands of people have arrived in the United States from China since President Donald Trump restricted travel to the country following the coronavirus outbreak, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Trump Administration Unveils Expansion of Travel Ban

February 1, 2020January 31, 2020 Admin

The Trump administration announced travel restrictions on six new countries Friday, adding to the list of countries that is already placed under a travel ban.

Omar Introduces ‘Neighbors Not Enemies Act’ in Challenge to ‘Muslim Ban’

January 31, 2020January 30, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) introduced a “Neighbors Not Enemies Act” Thursday to fully repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which President Donald Trump used as a basis for his travel ban.

Trump Confirms He Is Preparing to Expand a Travel Ban

January 22, 2020January 21, 2020 Admin

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration is preparing to expand a travel ban, a move that will likely showcase his immigration enforcement agenda ahead of the 2020 election.

Gov. Walz’s Refugee Decision Allows Federal Government to Send Middle East Refugees to Minnesota That Australia Has Refused

January 15, 2020January 15, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

Gov. Tim Walz’s December 13 decision to say yes to more refugees in Minnesota grants the federal government permission to resettle refugees from any country it desires into the state, including up to 720 refugees from Middle East countries that the government of Australia has refused to accept.

Nearly 40,000 Visas Were Denied in 2018 Under Trump Travel Ban

March 1, 2019February 28, 2019 Admin

by Jason Hopkins President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban of mostly Muslim-majority countries led to over 37,000 visa applications getting denied in 2018. The “2017 Executive Order on Immigration” was cited as the reason for the denial of 15,384 immigrant visa applications and another 21,645 non-immigrant visa applications in…

Nashville Demonstration Protests Trump Travel Ban Victory at Supreme Court

June 28, 2018June 27, 2018 Jason M. Reynolds

Rallies were held in Nashville and across the country Tuesday following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Trump’s travel ban on Muslim countries. The latest, third version of the policy applies to five mostly Muslim countries as well as North Korea and Venezuela, NewsChannel 5 reports. Chief Justice John Roberts…

Supreme Court Upholds Trump’s Travel Ban

June 26, 2018June 26, 2018 Admin

by Masood Farivar The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday narrowly upheld the Trump administration’s travel restrictions on citizens of five Muslim-majority countries, handing President Donald Trump a victory in enforcing one of his most controversial policies. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the president has the authority…

GILL: The Supreme Court’s Liberal Justices’ Narrative-Driven Questions About President Trump’s ‘Travel Ban’ Shows a Split From American People

April 26, 2018May 13, 2018 Admin

On Wednesday’s Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, conservative political commentator and Tennessee Star contributor Steve Gill discussed the blatant politicizing of the questions by the liberal Supreme Court Justices during oral arguments Wednesday over President Trump’s ‘extreme vetting’ national security protocols, and why every voter should be paying close…

Judge Dismisses Class-Action Challenge to Travel Ban

March 29, 2018March 29, 2018 Admin

A federal judge in Washington who had been a thorn in the side of the Trump administration reversed course Tuesday and ruled she could not force the State Department to grant visa lottery approvals to would-be immigrants from Iran and Yemen. The complicated case doesn’t directly challenge President Trump’s travel…

US Islamic Group With Ties To Hamas Rejoices Over Court Challenge To Travel Ban

February 17, 2018February 17, 2018 Tennessee Star Staff

A U.S. Islamic advocacy group suspected of conspiring with Hamas celebrated a federal court’s Thursday ruling against President Donald Trump’s latest travel sanctions. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which the FBI labeled as an “unindicted co-conspirator” with the terrorist group Hamas in 2009, released a statement Thursday celebrating the…

9th Circuit Appeals Court Rules Against Trump Travel Ban for Third Time

December 24, 2017December 24, 2017 Tennessee Star Staff

A decidedly anti-Trump appeals court issued yet another ruling Friday blocking most of President Trump’s latest version of his travel ban, finding that the White House exceeded its powers. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said would-be visitors from six majority-Muslim countries can still travel to the U.S. despite…

Trump Resumes Refugee Admissions into U.S., but with Greater Restrictions

October 26, 2017October 25, 2017 Admin

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order resuming the admission of refugees into the country, but imposed tougher scrutiny on nationals from 11 countries identified as posing a high risk to national security. The new order was issued Tuesday as an earlier order that imposed a 120-day ban…

Travel Ban Fight Set for 2018 Redux

October 7, 2017October 6, 2017 Admin

The fight over the legality of President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban consumed much of 2017. Get ready for a repeat in 2018. The federal government and plaintiffs who challenged the president’s executive order weighed in Thursday on the question of whether the case before the Supreme Court is now…

Donald Trump’s Travel Ban Temporarily Restored as Supreme Court Issues Stay on Lower Court

September 12, 2017September 12, 2017 Tennessee Star Staff

The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily restored a Trump administration executive order that blocks thousands of refugees from entering the United States. The decision comes after the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to block an appellate court ruling issued last week that would require the U.S. to admit any…

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Says He’ll Appeal Travel Ban Case Back to Supreme Court

July 15, 2017July 14, 2017 Tennessee Star Staff

The administration on Friday said it will appeal directly to the Supreme Court after a lower federal judge, for the second time, ruled against President Trump’s updated travel ban policy. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii ruled late Thursday that cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, as well as…

Iran, the World’s Top Terror Sponsor, Is Upset With Trump’s Travel Ban

June 30, 2017June 30, 2017 Tennessee Star Staff

Iran, the world’s top terror sponsor, denounced President Donald Trump’s travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries Friday, calling it a “shameful exhibition.” “US now bans Iranian grandmothers from seeing their grandchildren, in a truly shameful exhibition of blind hostility to all Iranians,” said Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in a Twitter…

BREAKING: Supreme Court Partly Reinstates Trump Travel and Refugee Bans

June 26, 2017June 26, 2017 Tennessee Star Staff

The Associated Press is reporting that ” The Supreme Court is letting a limited version of the Trump administration ban on travel from six mostly Muslim countries to take effect, a victory for President Donald Trump in the biggest legal controversy of his young presidency.” The court said Monday…

Commentary: Donald Trump’s Travel Ban Hits Supreme Court: It’s Sanity Time!

June 4, 2017June 4, 2017 Tennessee Star Staff

President Donald Trump’s administration petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to consider its temporary ban on travelers from six terror hot spots – terror hot spots that happen to be populated mostly by Muslims. It’s sanity time, folks. Cross fingers and say prayers. This is the last best chance Team Trump…

Tennessee Not Among States Filing Amicus Brief In Support of President Trump’s Executive Order Banning Travel from Six Middle Eastern Countries

March 30, 2017March 30, 2017 Wendy Wilson

Thirteen states have joined together to file an amicus brief in support of President Trump’s travel ban, but Tennessee is not among them. The friend of the court brief was filed Monday in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It defends Trump’s revised Executive Order 13780 temporarily barring citizens…

President Trump Signs New ‘Extreme Vetting’ Executive Order

March 6, 2017March 6, 2017 Tina LaFleur

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Monday, barring travelers from six countries to the United States for three months, and all refugees for four months, after federal appeals judges blocked a similar order from implementation last month. In an attempt to ensure a smoother rollout of the…

Critics: Whacky 9th District Court of Appeals Ignore Basic Legal Principals, Side with Open Borders Zealots

February 10, 2017February 10, 2017 Christina Botteri

Thursday evening, America’s dinner hour was interrupted by an unsavory display of jurist malpractice as the 9th District Court of Appeals once again lived up to its reputation as the Most Incompetent Court in the nation. The Court ruled 3-0 to DENY the Trump Administration’s pleading to stay the lower…