Rights groups warn; Trump will reinstate ban on Muslims

Civil rights groups in the United States have warned that an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday lays the groundwork for reinstating a travel ban on travelers from Muslim-majority and Arab-majority countries entering the United States.

The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said the new executive order relies on the same legal authority used to justify Trump's 2017 travel ban, and gives "broader latitude to use ideology to deny visa applications and deport people who have already entered the country." 

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) has said that Trump's executive order on "Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorist Attacks and Other Threats to National Security and Public Safety" will separate American families from their loved ones, and reduce the number of students enrolling in American universities.

During his presidential campaign, Trump insisted that, if elected, he would reimpose the travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries on the first day of his new administration. He said he would reimpose a travel ban on people from the Palestinian territory of Gaza, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and "anywhere that threatens our security."

Trump, who is hostile to Islam and Muslims, imposed a travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries while in office. The decision sparked protests and complaints from organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union. The travel ban on Muslims to the United States was a controversial part of his first term as president, and was repealed by President Joe Biden when he took office.