US President Donald Trump is set to rewrite the Immigration and Nationality Act, effectively reinstating a system of nationality-based discrimination that was previously banned in 1965. The new policy aims to create a national origins hierarchy ranking countries as “red,” “orange,” “yellow,” or “green” based on their perceived vetting standards.
Under this plan, countries will be ranked and visa restrictions imposed accordingly. For example, the top tier of “red” nations, including Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, would face severe travel ban restrictions.
However, critics argue that this policy is an egregious violation of Americans’ liberty to associate, contract, and trade with citizens from targeted countries. Many people will be unfairly banned from receiving immigrant visas due to supposed inadequacies in their home countries, even if they have lived abroad for years or have family ties to the US.
The new ban would affect over 145,000 immigrant visas issued in 2024 to nationals from countries that could now be targeted, as well as an additional 407,000 nonimmigrant visas. The policy’s implementation has sparked widespread concerns about its constitutionality and potential impact on American lives.
Critics point out that the Supreme Court’s previous ruling in this area allows President Trump to unilaterally rewrite laws and ban whole nationalities on a whim. To prevent such abuses, Congress should try to pass a law seeking to rein in these powers.
Source: https://www.cato.org/blog/new-discriminatory-arbitrary-legal-immigration-system-coming