Obama didn't close off any countries. This is a talking point being circulated by those who are either ignorant of the what actually happened or, perhaps more worryingly, who are engaging in false equivalency. Here's the history behind the choice of the 7 countries which have been hit with the 90 day travel ban by Trump, an executive order that could be argued to be considered unconstitutional. In Dec 2015, Obama placed limited restrictions on certain travelers who had visited Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria on or after March 1, 2011. Two months later, the Obama administration added Libya, Somalia, and Yemen to the list, in what it called an effort to address "the growing threat from foreign terrorist fighters."The restrictions specifically limited visa-waiver travel to the USA by those who had visited one of the seven countries within the specified time period. People who previously could have entered the US without a visa were instead required to apply for one if they had traveled to one of the seven countries. Dual citizens of visa-waiver countries and Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria could no longer travel to the US without a visa. Dual citizens of Libya, Somalia, and Yemen could, however, still use the visa-waiver program if they hadn't traveled to any of the seven countries after March 2011.Trump's order is much broader. It bans all citizens from those seven countries from entering the U.S. and leaves green card holders (people who have already been granted right-of-residence and right-to-work in the USA) subject to being rescreened after visiting those countries.Trump's executive order specifically invoked the 9/11 terrorist attacks, despite none of the terrorists being from any of the 7 countries or having travelled through them to get to the US (the 9/11 attackers were from Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia & Lebanon). A Trump administration official has also pointed to the 2015 shooting in San Bernardino to justify the order, although neither of the attackers in the shooting would've been affected by this new ban as neither were from or travelled from any of these 7 countries.Funnily enough, the 7 countries affected by Trump's travel ban does not include Muslim-majority countries where the Trump Organization does business. Trump has two companies with dealings in Egypt and eight with business in Saudi Arabia. And in the UAE, the Trump Organization is partnering with a local billionaire to develop two golf courses in Dubai.While this is a very long reply, I wanted to make sure that you have as much clarification about this as possible and I hope I've helped shed some light for you on this topic.
Joseph Jones ● 3373d