US travel ban takes effect amid LA protests against immigration crackdown

President Donald Trump’s bid banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the United States has travel into effect amid rising governmental tensions implicit his administration’s harsh anti-immigration policies.

The measure, announced by Trump past week arsenic indispensable to forestall the importation of “terrorists”, took effect connected Monday. The clampdown comes amid chaotic scenes connected the streets of Los Angeles arsenic crowds of protesters battled with constabulary and National Guard troops pursuing a question of arrests by migration authorities.

The divisive bid revives akin measures rolled retired during Trump’s archetypal term, arsenic travellers from several, mostly Muslim, countries were blocked from entering the US. Many of the countries affected by the caller bid are afflicted by warfare and large-scale displacement.

No disposable disruption was instantly discernible astatine Los Angeles International Airport successful the hours aft the caller prohibition took effect, according to the Associated Press quality agency.

The order applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Chad, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, the Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Heightened restrictions were besides placed connected radical from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Trump said the countries subjected to the astir terrible restrictions were determined to harbour a “large-scale beingness of terrorists”, neglect to cooperate connected visa information and person an inability to verify travellers’ identities. These countries were besides inadequate successful keeping records of transgression histories and had precocious rates of visa overstays successful the US, according to Trump.

The caller prohibition does not revoke visas antecedently issued to radical from countries connected the list, according to guidance issued connected Friday to each US diplomatic missions.

But it remains unclear however those rules volition beryllium implemented astatine the ports of entry. During Trump’s archetypal term, a akin question prohibition resulted successful disorder and disrupted travel.

In announcing the caller regularisation past week, Trump said the measurement was spurred by a caller “terrorist attack” connected Jewish radical successful the US authorities of Colorado.

The group had been protesting successful solidarity with captives held successful Gaza erstwhile they were assaulted by an Egyptian antheral that the White House said had overstayed his visa.

That attack, Trump said, “underscored the utmost dangers posed to our state by the introduction of overseas nationals who are not decently vetted”.

He warned that caller countries could beryllium added “as threats look astir the world”.

Egypt is not among the states affected by the prohibition oregon accrued scrutiny.

Volker Turk, United Nations precocious commissioner for quality rights, warned that “the wide and sweeping quality of the caller question prohibition raises concerns from the position of planetary law”.

‘Unlawful assembly’ zone

The prohibition comes amid protests successful the metropolis of Los Angeles against migration raids, carried retired arsenic portion of Trump’s hardline policy.

Over the weekend, Trump ordered the deployment of 2,000 members of the National Guard to Los Angeles County to quell the protests, bypassing the authorization of the politician of California and sending tensions spiking.

Thousands of protesters flooded the streets successful effect connected Sunday, blocking a large freeway and mounting occurrence to cars.

Law enforcement responded with teardrop gas, rubber bullets and flashbangs successful an effort to disperse the crowds.

Early connected Monday, authorities declared downtown Los Angeles an “unlawful assembly” portion and ordered the country cleared.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has formally requested that the Trump medication rescind the bid deploying National Guard troops to the city.

The bid is believed to beryllium the archetypal clip successful 60 years that a president has deployed a state’s National Guard without the governor’s consent.

The past lawsuit was successful 1965, erstwhile President Lyndon B Johnson used troops to support predominantly Black demonstrators during the civil rights question successful Alabama.

However, officials from the Trump administration, alert that assertive migration enforcement is fashionable among his base, person been anxious to state that they volition clamp down connected what they person labelled an “insurrection” and “migrant invasion”.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies