Keep Calm and Carry...your Papers

With the release of President Trump’s most recent Executive Order asserting travel bans on certain immigrants from certain countries, there is understandably much confusion and anxiety over what this and his prior executive orders mean to immigrants now living in the United States and foreign nationals hoping to travel here.

Unraveling all of these issues will take some time.  Federal courts were quick to identify the legal and constitutional flaws in various parts of the orders and variously enjoined the Department of Homeland Security from taking actions to deport persons who arrived legally.  The Department of Homeland Security also properly conceded that the ban should not apply to persons who are lawful Permanent Residents of the United States.  But as the legal entanglements continue and the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security figure out how to process these measures, what are noncitizens in the U.S. to do?

Keep Calm and Carry…your Papers

At this point, most of the immediate confusion is taking place at the borders and ports of entry into the U.S. and relates to persons outside of the U.S. trying to return or get into the U.S.  If you are already here, it would make sense to avoid traveling abroad until the Administration, the Courts and the Agencies can give us a clearer definition of exactly what type of enforcement will be taking place.  Of course, the January 27, 2017 Executive Order deals primarily with Refugees and visitors from 8 countries, but reports of others being stranded abroad in the confusion would indicate that there is still some uncertainty in international travel to and from the United States for noncitizens for now.

The January 25^th Executive Orders deal with internal enforcement of immigration laws; like the January 27^th Order, there is still some room for the Courts and the Administration to figure out to what extent these provisions are legally enforceable.  However, it is a general conclusion among the immigration bar that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not restrained by the executive memoranda from the previous administration giving clear enforcement priorities on who should (or should not) be placed in removal proceedings.  Thus, in this heightened environment of enforcement, if you are a noncitizen of the U.S., it would be prudent to make sure that you carry your authorizing documents, (e.g., ‘green cards’, copies of visas, etc.) with you at all times.

Finally, keep in mind the long-view.  Although this is a period of great uncertainty, anxiety and disorientation for immigrants in the U.S. – irrespective of one’s legal status – we are also an exceptional democracy that has mechanisms and tools to give balance and, ultimately, greater certainty to the legal rights and constitutional protections that have evolved and continue to improve through the testing of these principles that have shaped our nation for the past two centuries.

So Keep Calm, Carry On…and Be Careful until we can get this sorted out.