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Wandering Aramean

Welcome to the United States of Racism. Well, maybe not...

Welcome to the United States of Racism. Well, maybe not you . . .

I suppose I should take solace in that the new policy has an immediate impact on a relatively small group. Only about 90,000 visas were issued to the impacted countries last year so maybe the numbers is a half million or so; the details are not entirely clear). But I cannot. Because the real impact is so very, very much larger than that. It affects me. It probably affects you. Maybe not directly and immediately. But it absolutely does.

Earlier this afternoon an Executive Order was signed banning citizens of seven countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen –  from entering the United States for at least a 30-day period, even if a legal permanent resident of in possession of a valid visa. The 30-day period is contingent on the affected countries delivering significant information about their citizens to the US government. Even if they wanted to (which they almost certainly do not and should not) these countries generally do not have the necessary diplomatic relations with the US to deliver such. And the US has no ambassadors on station so negotiating that won’t work very well.

The order took effect immediately, with confirmation that affected travelers are being denied boarding at airports. US residents attempting to return to their homes are being denied.

The order also suspends the Visa Interview Waiver program. This will dramatically increase the time and effort required for people in more than 100 countries around the world to receive a visa to visit or work in the United States. And I expect that reciprocity is coming. That means increased challenges for US passport holders to visit other countries. That’s speculation, of course, but we’ve seen it in action many times before. US visitors to Chile were saddled with a reciprocity fee right up until the US relaxed immigration policies for Chileans to visit. Conversations had started with Brazil about similar changes and the visa rules there relaxed. With this reversal to isolationist policies it will not be too surprising to me to see other countries counter with tougher requirements.

Also consider that the 7 listed countries are just a start. More could be added at any time, without debate or recourse.

And even if the reciprocity problem wasn’t there it would still affect me. These are people who live and work in our cities. THey pay taxes and help build our country up. Now they’re being vilified in attempts to tear it down.

Oh, and the racist schmucks chose to implement it on Holocaust Remembrance Day. That’s not irony; it is just plain awful.

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Seth Miller

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I'm Seth, also known as the Wandering Aramean. I was bit by the travel bug 30 years ago and there's no sign of a cure. I fly ~200,000 miles annually; these are my stories. You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

134 Comments

  2. As an American I’m disgusted by what has transpired in our country. I cannot believe that people actually voted for this disgusting racist narcissist.

    1. “A….B….” you lost all credibility with your username; don’t like it here? don’t let the proverbial door hit you on the way out as you look for a country where you like how things are transpiring; U.S. Constitution states he’s now running the show; if enough people think it’s so bad then he’ll be gone in four years

      1. Funny that during the last 8 years all the right wing whiners who promised to leave the country and never did. This country would be much better off today if they kept their word (which we knew they wouldn’t – not a republican trait).

        As far as a name, your own shows that it does not mean much. I can think of a great Bill, that just like President Obama, also took this country out of recession after another disastrous Bush fiasco.

        Also, funny how all of a sudden republicans rediscovered the Constitution.

        1. Oy vey…

          Look, I don’t want to get into a debate about the merits of Obama’s presidency or that of Bill Clinton – who, by the way, surely would have been fired by his Board of Directors had he been a Fortune 500 company CEO and had been caught having an affair with a company intern and then lied about it – and I certainly don’t want to get into a debate about the merits, or lack thereof, of Democrat politicians or their Republican counterparts.

          Furthermore, I don’t want to get into a debate about liberal or conservative idiology. I’ve been both at different times of my life and neither is perfect and has all the answers … at least in my opinion.

          Yet, I think what this does illustrate is the harmful effects amplified by the most recent Bush and Obama presidencies: the proliferation of governing by executive orders (remember: “I have a pen…”?).

          Any President of any party or any political persuasion should have to deal with Congress to enact meaningful actions.

  4. I’m hoping in the next few days someone doesn’t pull a gun or commit a terrorist act in the name of the people wanting to come in from X not being allowed. Sad.

    2. Oh, I know. I’m just holding my breath as I live very close to D.C. (as a possible target). I mean those lone wolf freedom fighters. Someone is going to be angry and loaded for this.

      1. Like in Orlando, San Bernadino or countless others? Are we just gonna pretend there have been no terrorists attacks the last 8 yrs?

        1. Or Oklahoma City? Charleston?

          Which of the examples you cited would have been prevented if the current ban had been in place?

  5. Another shit day in a shit week. About time some of you bloggers who actually DO have a voice and a large readership standing up for what’s right. This can end very very very badly. Use all the power you can to let people know what is unacceptable. Travel blog…so what… I will cheer you and back you 100%

    This is my message to Trump voters, you sicken me to my core. YOU …yes YOU if you voted for him or didn’t vote at all…. have no compassion, no decency, no respect , and no soul.

    Oh … and don’t give me your libtard insults or Hillary emails shit. This is about the next Hitler, you friggin scumbags who may well have stolen my kid’s future. Go do yourselves.

    1. Andy – I happily voted for Trump and agree with many of his ideas (certainly not all) around America First and reforming immigration and am not overly concerned if it makes you sick (Pepto Bismol didn’t work for me the last 8 years). Comparing him to Hitler is proof you know very little about German history. However, I am curious how anything he’s done thus far “may well have stolen my kid’s future” ? In advance, I’ll state that I care more about my kids’ future than yours.

    1. Of course it is. This is the first step, not the end game. For more than 70 years we’ve said “never again” and yet we keep letting it happen, over and over.

      And this time we’re actually committing the crime ourselves.

    3. I believe this is a significant and pressing danger that requires resistance well before ten. We cannot afford to wait even a couple years in hopes that there is still some semblance of decency present.

  7. If it were racism would they have not also blocked Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE & Lebanon as well as Morocco and Turkey? The problem is not with Muslim/Islamic countries per se, but with where extremist groups are based. The countries have also lost all ability to track and confirm the whereabouts of their citizens which leads to a high risk of a bad actor using false credentials to gain access to the U.S. Pakistan is also not on the list even though they allow groups to freely move back and forth to Afghanistan. The difference is that Pakistan and the U.S. has a trusted communication link to verify travelers to the U.S.

    1. If this sort of reasoning lets you sleep at night while justifying bigotry then good for you. My conscience would not accept such.

      It started with 7 countries. I’m betting it expands before it shrinks. And choosing to block refugees is inhumane and inexcusable.

      1. I agree blocking refugees are inhumane and inexcusable; hence why I don’t understand why the rich gulf countries have not accepted *any* Syrian refugees, but are more than willing to provide $$$ to build mosques in countries that do accept them.

    2. It’s obvious you’re wasting your time trying to calmly point out the common sense in these measures to this Trump-deranged crowd. But I applaud the effort.

    3. Great points, surfintx. I can understand the passion involved but I hate to see it lead to disdain and insult of other opinions. I’m an immigrant myself from South America, a legal immigrant; educated, with multiple degrees from MIT; a business professional. I voted for Trump and support the actions he’s taken to date. That doesn’t make me a racist or an idiot. this country offers wonderful opportunities for legal immigrants and will continue to do so

      1. Your willingness to support racist policies does, in fact, make you a racist. Regardless of where you received degrees.

  8. Those darned Elbonians (the backwards country depicted in Dilbert). If only they assimilated. If only they wouldn’t commit acts of terrorism. If only they wouldn’t strap bombs on themselves before walking into crowds and blowing themselves up, murdering dozens and wounding hundreds. If only there weren’t two dozen other countries that already had majority Elbonian population that they could go to. If only Elbonians didn’t want to subjugate other races and peoples, which they refer to as inferior “infidels.” If only these Elbonians didn’t commit a disproportionate number of racist attacks against other minority groups.

    1. I don’t believe you’ve ever seen me demand or even suggest that assimilation is an issue. And if you want to talk about real threats to lives in the USA then look at who is actually committing murder here. I’ll give you a hint: white men.

      Choosing to block refugees (nearly 50% are either kids under 15 or elderly) seeing safety from war is inhumane. And 80 years ago it led to millions of needless deaths. I’d like that to not happen again.

      1. Seth – first, guessing you didn’t foresee this much activity around your post but it’s certainly indicative of today’s polarization. Second, this has gotten off-base but any facts to support the “hint” above? I find the most recent data indicate “Black or African American” commit 52% of the “murder and non-negligent manslaughter” in the U.S. (2013 FBI data), that’s while only making up 12% of the population (2010 Census). Overall, I just dislike when people use inaccurate data to try and prove their point so feel free to reference conflicting data if you have it.

        1. I was speaking mostly to “terrorist” acts, events with multiple victims. These are the mass shooting type of incidents that we’re supposedly defending against by blocking Muslims from entering the USA. And they are far more frequently committed by white guys who were born here.

          1. Im glad you arent using any facts at all in your rants. Congrats. You sound drunk again

    2. You’ve picked one of the points I raised. Assimilation. And I’m not sure if you believe that it is or it is not an issue. Well, it is. Look at the complete lack of assimilation in many European countries and the proliferation of “no go” zones around Paris and London and Cologne.

      80 years ago, the refugees leaving Europe didn’t possess anywhere near the danger that a subsegment of this current wave of refugees possesses.

      Further, it is improper to compare today’s Syrian refugees to the Jews escaping Europe in the 1930’s. Your intent is to pull on politically correct heartstrings. It is a cheap shot.

      1. If you read the media from the 1930s, the UK, Australian, South African and American Press warned regularly of the dangers that hordes of German Jews would pose to their countries. Politicians spoke loudly against their acceptance because of the economic, political and saboteur threats that were posed. These Jews were seen as traitors, untrustworthy and spies who would rise up against their host countries.

        The children of Syria can be completely paralleled to today. My country’s refusal to let Jewish kids in resulted in their deaths. It is not a cheap shot to say that the Syrian children are being equally doomed.

    3. I also raised other points – the suicide bombers, the superiority complex of Muslims and the many racist attacks that are being performed in countries where they have migrated.

    4. I get it Bruce; you’re bigoted and rely on bullshit (“no go zones”) to help justify supporting bigotry.

      The people affected by the refugee ban are running from wars. They are children and the elderly trying to escape so that they can live full lives without the threat of being killed walking down the street. Suggesting that they are a danger when they are checked out WAY more aggressively than random tourists is simply untrue.

      1. Seth, I cannot say for sure but it does seem as if you have not spent any time lately around the areas of refugees in Europe. I have helped out at serveral of the camps and can tell you that of the tens of thousands of refugees that we have seen, at least 60% were young men between the ages of 18-33. Of course there are children and elderly that are running from the wars as well but that is not the bulk of the groups that we had seen.
        That said, there are those that are causing problems within those groups and it has caused violent crime rates to go up in many of the cities that are hosting refugees. In fact, local authorities often just stay out of the problems in camps because they are nervous about the violence as well. Those that are causing problems make it more difficult on those just trying to flee the war but it is something to be aware of.

        1. Hi Greg

          Which camps did you work in and with which agencies. Which cities did you see the violent crime rates to go up in?

    5. Thank you for accusing me of bigotry. I do not appreciate that slander. But if it helps you to sleep at night by accusing people of racism because they disagree with this policy and with you, so be it.

      Are you suggesting that “no go zones” do not exist? A very quick Google search would find evidence that they exist in France, Sweden and elsewhere. You’re deceiving yourself on this point.

      2. Kane,

        I’m in Sweden more than you are and have checked out plenty of the country and even its worst neighborhoods. There are no “no-go” zones in Sweden for the Swedish police. I see the police working in those “awful” neighborhoods too. The worst neighborhoods in Sweden are much nicer and safer than the worst neighborhoods in the US.

        America is a far more dangerous place than Sweden. Just a fact of life for the fact-challenged to try to grasp in a place where the President throws a fit about people realizing the fact that the current President had a much smaller inauguration crowd in DC than his predecessor.

      3. I have yet to find those no go zones in Sweden and France as are my Swedish and French friends who are getting sick of the nonsense that is being spouted regarding their supposed existence.

        This week a guy tweeted about the no go zones in my own country Australia. When I challenged him, he told me the media were covering up things in Australia. Seeing I live here and work with NGO organisations working in our “worst locations”, I am confident to say we do not have no go zones here either.

    6. These are policies based in bigotry. You appear to support them. Generally speaking 2+2=4.

      And you cannot even pretend that he’s fiscally conservative given the other policy changes recently announced.

      So why the support?

    7. Let’s not conflate Syrian refugees with border security. Let’s just stick to one. Or are would you suggest that international passengers arriving in the US should no longer need to show their passports? And then you drag the red herring through the discussion of fiscal conservatism.

    9. Bruce Kane Seems a bit rich to have belched out a Trumpian list of thoroughly false, entirely debunked and plainly racist (Islam is not a race) accusations in your first comment and then object on the (frankly, spurious) grounds of conflation.

    10. You’re all over the map with your replies is where “that bullshit” comes from. We started a discussion on Donald Trump seeking to slow Syrian refugees, where I’ve suggested that there is a real danger from this group of people and I listed a number of reasons why. You’ve compared them to 1930 Jews escaping Germany.

      You’ve denied actual facts in regards to what has happened with other large groups of refugees, including the “no go zones” and lack of assimilation in other countries.

      You called me a bigot because I’m not opening welcoming these Syrian refugees into the United States.

      And now you’ve included the completely non-sequitur phrase “fiscally conservative” which has nothing to do with the discussion at all.

      No, John, Islam is not a race. It’s a religion that proclaims itself superior to others, demands that its followers subjugate women and other religions, and in its name, its followers commit homicide bombings. Opposing it isn’t bigotry or racism. It’s sanity. The conflation wasn’t me who started it.

      1. Bruce
        I agree completely. I am so happy this country is finally trying to get control of who is allowed in and no more free passes without any verification.

        Don’t believe in no go zones? Maybe you haven’t read the news or know anyone in Europe. I have friends and family there – they are restricted from certain areas. Understand that – citizens of the countries are not allowed in certain areas of their own country because refugees have taken over.

        Why does everyone want to come here? Because everything is free and it’s easy to take advantage of the system. And then you can just sue because the free education is not good enough. And you can sue because the church bells bother you. And you can sue to make them stop serving pork because it offends you. Wow.

        This is not a racist issue. It is a safety issue. Citizens of a country should not be scared walking their own streets. I would have shut this whole thing long ago if possible.

    11. Bruce Kane One of the mixed blessings of these times is my newfound lack of willingness to debate “alt-right” “alt-facts”, or as we called them when I did my international relations MA, “Nazi propaganda”. You are spreading it, and I am noting it. It’s not up for debate.

      1. Yup. Not worth debating as you aren’t going to convince right-wing extremists with facts when they can pull “alternative facts” out of their rear end.

    13. Got anything from a reputable source and not a clickbait republisher, British far-right tabloid or a hard-right think tank run by neocon John Bolton?

    15. Right, so *those* are the supposed “no-go zones” you want to talk about. That’s a Fox News bullshit creation — a twisting of the ZUS (zone urbaine sensible) local policy action area, now called QPV. You’ll remember the mockery from the UK and France when that Fox nonsense was first spouted, and the official complaints from the Mayor of Paris.

      Now, to that translated quote from Nicolas Comte from the police union, who are on a continuing quest for more pay and have come under flak from French moderates for their tactics. Comte, in the original French, used “zone de non-droit”, which is more used to describe a zone as being abandoned by police. There is no direct French translation of the concept, and where not used by Comte these English-language media did not attribute the phrase, which is known in the journalism business as “making it up”.

      Here’s a brief summary of the situation from French Wikipedia, and I encourage you to educate yourself about the ZUS and QPV using the links.

    16. You said that there were no reputable sources, I found them. And now you’re pointing to Wikipedia as *your* source? The attacks there and the multiple reports that you deny, but sure, it’s all made up bullshit. You win.

    22. Yep, I’ve seen that you’re in a world all by yourself who denies sources because they don’t work for you and you post things that you don’t actually read. You’re super awesome!

  11. I do not think the president understands the full effect of this EO. I’m pissed about the refugee ban since they already go through pretty extreme vetting and this was announced on Holocaust Remembrance Day. However, I work for a German company and we now have a number of European employees traveling back and forth. This is going to significantly affect our business.

  14. All you liberals. NEWS FLASH you LOST the election. Trump is doing everything that he said he was going to do. Maybe if the liberals and intercity people actually voted your candidate would of won. That didn’t happen, so get used to it or why don’t you get turn in your citizenship and move to Iran! I think it is awesome.

    1. Well said Big daddy. This kind of endless whining is what happens when a generation of kids have grown up being awarded Participation Trophy’s. Apparently they are getting their first taste of being a loser in the real world and are having real trouble dealing with it. Hoping one day they will realize their tantrums are only embarrassing themselves. Until then, I guess we just have to sit back and enjoy the show.

      1. Your last two sentences are quite thick. The same can be said for the president. He is a neophyte with limited intellectual curiosity and fails to understand the full impact of policies being whispered in his ear by other neophytes who seek to destroy or weaken our state.
        I did not grow up on participation trophies and the first taste we are getting is that of fascism. I applaud Seth for writing about this when no other travel blogger will touch it. I’m sure any travel restrictions you encounter because of this will only confirm your bias towards those that are different. Congratulations, you are being played by a 70 year old child and his bigoted minions.

    2. Indeed. He is enacting all of the bigoted promises he made. And I’m not particularly shy about calling him out on that. Your support of such is unfortunate.

      1. No comment on the fact that Obama stopped refugee immigration for, not just 90 days, but 6 months? I can understand why you’d want to ignore that inconvenient fact.
        Selective outrage much? Hypocrisy much?
        Like I say to the arrogant, pontificating Hollywood liberals when they get on their holier-than-thou soap box: shut up and do your job. We read your blog because we want to travel cheap. We don’t care what your opinions are on politics. Or feel free to do so.
        Plenty of other blogs blogging the same redundant stuff you are. No big loss.

        1. If there is a specific reason to pause refugee requests from a specific country or area due to heightened risk, then that’s what we should do. What is the reason for Trump’s blanket ban on citizens of 7 Muslim countries (not to mention US permanent residents and refugees) other than fear-mongering and pandering to his base? Your false equivalence doesn’t fool anyone with half a brain, and your bigotry runs counter to everything this country is about.

  16. Big daddy Nazi. YOU lost the election. YOU are gonna lose you idiot. I am actually leaving. For good, so I don’t have to stand next to a fat redneck like you and feel your low IQ on my neck. I will not let the door hit me on the way out, worry not.

    You voted for a man who mocked the disabled on live TV, a man who can hardly string a sentence together, can’t spell, is a scam artist beyond compare, a man who denigrated a grieving family who lost their son in the name of the American flag, a man who brags about sexual assault, a man who incites violence, is a liar beyond compare. A man who divides and demonizes decent hard working people. And so on and so on.

    I despise people like you. I only hope you dont have kids because one day you’ll have to look at them in the eye, and say you voted for Trump.

  17. This is very scary! This is affecting people who came to the US legally years ago! They came here to work or study. Many of these people have families here. These are US taxpayers and US residents. They are being separated from their families and homes right now if the were outside of the US today! There are people who travel for their jobs who will no longer be able to leave the US or they will not be allowed back in.

  18. The State Department in 2011 stopped processing Iraq refugee requests for six months after the Federal Bureau of Investigation uncovered evidence that several dozen terrorists from Iraq had infiltrated the United States via the refugee program.
    So I’m sure I can look back on your blog (been around that long?) and find you equally as outraged at Obama and calling him and his crowd “racist schmucks”. I’m kidding of course. I’m sure you probably didn’t even notice.
    Your outrage is both selective and hypocritical. Not to mention, irrational.
    But at least you let everyone now how much more you care about these things than the rest of us heathens. Your virtue signalling came through loud and clear.

    1. I’m just trying to figure this post’s reasoning that this is “racism” when a nation takes steps to verify it’s security from a particular region. Where else in the world are groups posting on the internet about killing westerners due to a religious cause? (I am not talking about Muslims in general but these specific groups) Has it really been that long since the 70’s and the restrictions imposed then?

      Unless your saying that any attack against a Muslim, no matter what their beliefs are, are an attack against all?

    2. If there is a specific reason to pause refugee requests from a specific country or area due to heightened risk, then that’s what we should do. What is the reason for Trump’s blanket ban on citizens of 7 Muslim countries other than fear-mongering and pandering to his base? Your false equivalence doesn’t fool anyone with half a brain, and your bigotry runs counter to everything this country is about.

  20. Stick to travel, Not political diatribe. This reader is one whose illusory shadow will not grace your blog site again.

  21. and to think i have used hotel hustle. stfu. your post is nothing more than ridiculous reality challenged virtue signaling.

    this is the REAL WORLD. you’d think with all your travel you would know the difference between contrived rhetoric and reality. but go ahead and play social justice warrior.

    as to racist… ya wanna know what is racist… ONLY carrying when a black man is killed by a white officer and ignoring white men killed by officers. marching with your sjw buddies with BLM, when BLM doesn’t give a shit about anything but creating racial tensions (just like your DOCUMENTED racist hero president, Obama). do a google search of the # of black CHILDREN (even babies) killed in drive-by’s last year. now…. google to look at the statements and protests by BLM of these innocent children being murdered. uph…. that’s right… THERE ARE NONE! now tell me how many times you and your privledged SJW douche bags protested for these massacred children. AGAIN…. nada.

    stfu with your virtue signaling nonsense. you are NOT on the moral high ground.

  22. and, yes… i know your post was about targeting the countries where RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISTS come from- it’s the same stale false narrative—- ya know, the one that normal Americans are fed up with… the one that got Trump elected.

    would you suggest Trump target people from Iceland?!? idiotic argument from the left that uses the go-to words to shame and label anyone who disagrees with their faulty view of reality: racist, nazi, misogynist, fascist (my favourite, as the lunatic ‘progressive’ left beats up, attacks, ridicules and burns down anything that isn’t aligned with their views…. the LITERAL definition of fascism!)

    stick to writing buggy code for potentially promising tools.

    and, yeah… i’m ranting. bc when i am in my points and miles world, i’d like to think i can get away from you virtue signaling idiots. i was wrong.

    1. “ya know, the one that normal Americans are fed up with… the one that got Trump elected.”

      Funny, last time I checked, Trump lost by 3 million votes. And not sure what your definition of “normal” Americans is.

      Argue all you want, but you are still a bigot and a racist.

  23. Simple. I am boycotting your blog. You are a biased leftist idiot who doesn’t have their facts or comparisons straight. I will never land on your page again.

    1. Not sure your self-proclaimed boycott of this site will do the blogger any harm, if you even stick to your guns on this matter. The US has a vast majority of people who don’t approve of the current US President, and my bet is that most Americans who travel internationally tend to be even more critical than average when it comes to this President.

      The knee-jerk fans of this President are having difficulty dealing with the reality that their favorite is the most disliked new President in decades and that even the legitimate American majority was opposed to Trump on Election Day 2016.

  24. This is really rich. A guy who supports the slaughter of over half a million babies a year lecturing as though he has the moral high ground.
    How this can be construed as racist is beyond me. It impacts countries with different majority races and by no means are the biggest countries with people of those races. But sure, keep calling everything trump does racist, we see how well that worked during the election.

    1. This is really rich. A guy who refuses to help fleeing refugees facing slaughter lecturing as though he has the moral high ground.

      Funny how pro-life folks are suddenly not so pro-life anymore when it comes to a Muslim child.

      1. I think this policy is stupid and all it does is put a check mark next to his campaign promise.
        It is even more stupid that it is being called racism when it clearly isn’t and that is a pro abortion warrior preaching down upon everyone as though he stands atop the moral mountain.

        1. “Pro abortion” warrior? I don’t know anyone who is advocating for anyone to have abortions. I personally simply don’t claim that (if I had a time machine) had any right to tell your mother what to do her body when she was pregnant with you. Simple as that.

  25. Thanks for writing this. There are thousands of Persian-Americans facing the prospect of being either locked out or locked in our country tonight without warning, including my wife. We feel blindsided by all this – had we known that this winter would be the last chance to see her family for a while, we surely would have gone to Turkey to see them. The more data points being published about how State and CBP are implementing this directive, the better.

  27. Seth, I appreciate your take on this. It wasn’t clear to me from the media reports that permanent residents are also being banned from returning to the US so thanks for pointing that out. My hope is that this extreme fear mongering from Trump can only last so long, but it seems from some of the above comments that many people have been swimming in his kool-aid. Why all the hate people?

  28. Wtf? Us Citizens do not need a visa to return to the United States, do you even know what you’re talking about? “US residents attempting to return to their homes are being denied.”

    1. US Citizens and US Permanent Residents are two different categories. Citizens are not being denied but residents are.

    2. The US has different categories of persons who may be legally resident in the US. A substantial minority of such legal residents of the US are not US citizens; amongst others who aren’t US citizens but are legally residing in the US: US Permanent Resident status holders;, US immigrant visa holders, and non-US-citizen US nationals.

      Most Americans have no clue about the fact that we still have non-citizen US nationals; forget about the mInority of Americans who are Trump fans from understanding the nuances of US legal presence for non-citizens resident in the US.

    3. Wtf indeed. Clearly you don’t know the difference between “resident” and “citizen”.

  29. Thanks Seth for taking a stand and posting this. Just week one – and all the bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and fear-mongering is now unapologetically out in the open. It’s disgusting to see people talking about defending the country and the Constitution while spouting just about everything that is counter to our ideals. Absolutely sickening.

  30. I applaud Trump for taking a step in the right direction. It’s not worth it for USA to play the role of the past 8 years at the expense of it’s citizens. There are more people in my stance than otherwise but most of these people will not make it public, because they are too busy working and making the country go, so the other side can waste our hard work by handing it to illegal aliens.

  32. Support you 100%. Travel is political like almost everything else. Keep it coming. There will be unintended consequences from these policies for U.S. travelers and citizens. Not sure if anyone else has pointed out that some of the countries not on the list (yet) that are Muslim majority are ones where Trump has business interests. Coincidence or conflict of interest? Hard to miss since they are the countries most of the 911 hijackers were from https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-trump-immigration-ban-conflict-of-interest/

  33. I thought this was a miles and points blog. There are plenty of political web sites. It dilutes your content.

  34. Agree totally…how blind (“sad!”?) and dumb does someone — an Administration — have to be to this irony of shutting out people in distress on the day we are supposed to remember what happened almost 80 years ago when nations closed their doors to refugees in similar circumstances! And remarkably, the country from which most of the real terrorists who attacked the US came from (Saudi Arabia) and which today still funds radical Islamic sects, is not on the list! I can only be heartened to be a Canadian and know that we’ve taken in over 25,000 Syrian refugees in the past year. I suppose the first Infrastructure project that Trump signs off on should be the dismantling of the Statue of Liberty!

    2. > and know that we’ve taken in over 25,000 Syrian refugees in the past year

      … and how many Canadians have been killed in terror attacks by those 25k Syrians in the past year?

      I guess Canada is now the land of the free, home of the brave.

  35. 9/11 happened under which political party? Last I recall it was under the GOP. Bin Laden was killed under which president? I believe it was under Obama, a Democrat. You tough talking, racist GOP’s are so pathetic and arrogant. Your nothing but bunch of poorly edjucated pile of shit. Go take your silly little guns and leave. You suck!!!

  36. Thanks for writing the article. I hadn’t even considered reciprocity action.

    Reminds of my travels to Turkey in 2003 in a large group. All the EU passports got in fine but I had to pay $100 at IST to enter. When I asked the reason, I was told that is what Turks pay to enter the US.

    You’re probably going to catch some flack by the sensitive loons for this post. I’m sorry for that.

    I always enjoy when people that don’t travel tell me how the world works. I’ve been to many places and learned a lot, and I have no idea how the world works.

  38. ” banning citizens of seven countries … from entering the United States for at least a 30-day period, even if a legal permanent resident of in possession of a valid visa.” Am I reading this right? Green card holders from these countries are not being readmitted to the US?

    2. Okay, can someone point me in the direction of that catacomb from “Gangs Of New York”? Time for the Dead Rabbits to put an end to this nativist chicanery.

  39. Well that escalated quickly.

    I appreciate you bringing this up, Seth. When I read your post headline I figured you’d get Trump trolls all over your comments. Just sad to think that many of them must be regular readers of yours (or maybe they aren’t). You’d think people interested in seeing the world are more open minded than that.

  40. Pingback: "Stay is granted" - Wandering Aramean

  41. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 states

    “Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of
    any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the
    interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such
    period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or
    any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the
    entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate”

    President Trump is clearly within his rights to ban people as per this law.

    Note: I’m merely stating the law as it is without getting into discussion if this was right or not.

    1. Nope. It is illegal. The The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 states:

      https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1152
      “no person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence.”

      1. The INA would be the prevailing text here both for being newer and more specific. Additionally, according to today’s NYT column, Jimmy Carter’s administration tried a similar tact before (the only such test of this passage) and it failed miserably in court.

        There will be pain from this ill-conceived, rushed implementation, as we have already seen, but at least it will be limited by the law.

  44. I’ve enjoyed your blog and I look forward to the podcasts. Now I know that you are also a compassionate human being. Thank you for being part of the resistance against Trump.

    1. I am. If you cannot see how this is travel related then there’s not much I can do to help you.

  46. I subscribed to this blog to read about travel, not politics–if that’s what I want, then I can turn to any one of a dozen rags (Time, Newsweek, NY Times, LA Times…) or the other media venues. Rick Steves made this same mistake several years ago, mixing his political beliefs into his travel blog and lost a lot of subscribers, myself included. I wonder how many you will lose?

    1. I suspect that you would have no problem with this blog being political if it was supporting Trump’s action.

    2. This *IS* travel.

      As for readership numbers, I’m not too worried. Helps that this isn’t my primary source of income, I suppose. And that I have a conscience and integrity.

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