[Hit Coffee post] Trumpwatch #2: where's the travel ban order?

[Cross-posted at Hitcoffee]

[UPDATE: 1-29-2017: I stated in the original post that the EO has no list of countries. That was incorrect. It names Syria, and it refers to “section 217(a)(12) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1187(a)(12).” Upon inspection of that statute/code, I find that it refers to a program for visas that makes certain people ineligible, namely those who have “been at any time on or after March 1, 2011″ in Iraq or Syria or “in a country that is designated by the Secretary of State under section 4605(j) of title 50 (as continued in effect under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)), section 2780 of title 22, section 2371 of title 22, or any other provision of law, as a country, the government of which has repeatedly provided support of acts of international terrorism” or “in any other country or area of concern designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security.” In my quotes, I’ve left out references to certain paragraphs, etc.]


As you may have heard, there's an uproar over Mr. Trump's decision to issue a travel ban on Friday (Jan. 27, 2017) from selected countries and over that decision's affect on people arriving within the last two days. See this WaPo article [paywall] [1] The why's and wherefore's of the ban and the impact it will have on immigrants and those who have been granted permanent resident status are being debated, and that's where the key point of concern ought to lie.

But a question for Mr. Trump: Where is the order on your whitehouse.gov page? I couldn't find it on the "presidential actions" tab that your press office uses to update citizens on what you're doing. I had to hunt elsewhere for it and finally found the text of it at the New York Times. It's probably listed somewhere at the Federal Register online, but I'm still a novice at navigating those pages.

Here's the text the New York Times offers, saying it was supplied by the White House.[2] That text itself doesn't list the banned countries. I presume that list is found in an order issued by, say, the Department of Homeland Security.

I'm obviously implying that the White House is less than eager to be transparent on this issue. However, it's quite possible that it's my own inexperience at monitoring executive orders that's making me have to rely on media sources. At any rate, now you have a link to it in case you wanted to read it. (Disclosure: I haven't read it yet.)

[1]  Brady Dennis, Jerry Markon, and Katherine Sahver, "Despite growing dissent, Trump gives no sign of backing down from travel ban," Washington Post, January 29, 2017.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-gives-no-sign-of-backing-down-from-travel-ban/2017/01/29/4ffe900a-e620-11e6-b82f-687d6e6a3e7c_story.html [Accessed 1-29-2017].
[2] "Full executive order text: Trump's action limiting refugees into the US," New York Times, January 27, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/politics/refugee-muslim-executive-order-trump.html [accessed 1-29-2017]