Executive Order 13780
Executive Order 13780, titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, was an executive order signed by United States President Donald Trump on March 6, 2017. It placed a 90-day restriction on entry to the U.S. by nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and barred entry for all refugees who did not possess either a visa or valid travel documents for 120 days. This executive order—sometimes called "Travel Ban 2.0"—revoked and replaced Executive Order 13769 issued on January 27, 2017.
The order was challenged in court by several states. On March 15, 2017, Judge Derrick Watson of the District Court for the District of Hawaii issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the government from enforcing several key provisions of the order. The judge determined the executive order was likely motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment and thus breached the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. On the same date, Judge Theodore Chuang of the District Court for the District of Maryland reached a similar conclusion. On May 25, 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit refused to reinstate the ban on constitutional grounds, citing religious discrimination. On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments for the petition to vacate the injunctions, meanwhile allowing the government to move forward with a narrowed portion of the ban. The Court eventually dismissed the challenges for losing practical relevance after the 90-day travel ban expired. On September 24, 2017, President Trump signed Presidential Proclamation 9645, replacing the expired ban. The new proclamation banned entry for many nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Chad, Venezuela, and North Korea. The district court and court of appeals again enjoined the new proclamation. On December 4, the Supreme Court allowed the ban to go into full effect, pending legal challenges. On June 26, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the president's authority to implement these restrictions in the case of Trump v. Hawaii. On February 21, 2020, Presidential Proclamation 9983 reaffirmed the ban and additionally banned certain visa entries for citizens of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania who were outside of the U.S., seeking to travel to the U.S., and did not already have a valid visa.
On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden revoked Executive Order 13780 and its related proclamations in Presidential Proclamation 10141.
Provisions and effect
At 12:01am EDT on March 16, 2017, Executive Order 13780 revoked and replaced Executive Order 13769. Trump called the new order a "watered down, politically correct version" of the prior executive order.Sections 2 and 6 were enjoined by Judge Watson's temporary restraining order in Hawaii v. Trump before they could take effect. Executive Order 13780 contained similar provisions as Executive Order 13769 but removed Iraq from the list of banned countries and removed the indefinite ban on Syrian refugees. Section 2 suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days, and Section 6 reduced the number of refugees to be admitted into the United States from 110,000 to 50,000. Sections 2 and 6 were enjoined by Judge Watson's temporary restraining order in Hawaii v. Trump before they could take effect.
Implementing the directive of Executive Order 13780, the United States Department of State proposed a new form, DS-5535, to collect additional information from all visa applicants "who have been determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibilities". The form contained new protocols and procedures for the purpose of " the proper collection of all information necessary to rigorously evaluate all grounds of inadmissibility or deportability, or grounds for the denial of other immigration benefits". The public was given fourteen days to comment on the proposed form. 55 academic and scientific organizations cosigned a letter, stating that while they appreciate and support the nation's security needs, the proposed form "is likely to have a chilling effect" on all travelers to the United States due to uncertainties and confusion regarding the supplemental questions and by delaying processing travelers who have strict deadlines and enrollment dates. The organizations said the form was unclear in the criteria for determining who would complete the form, the impact of unintentional incomplete disclosure of information, methods to correcting information initially provided, and how and for how long the information would be stored and kept private.
Section 3: Scope and implementation of the suspension
Section 3 outlined many exceptions to suspensions of immigration that the order required.Exceptions
The order did not apply to international travelers from the named countries in some circumstances.| Citation | Individual Exceptions listed in Executive Order 13780 |
| 3 | Any foreign national who is inside the United States on the effective date of this order. |
| 3 | Any foreign national who had a valid visa at 5:00p.m., eastern standard time on January 27, 2017. |
| 3 | Any foreign national who had a valid visa on the effective date of this order. |
| 3 | Any lawful permanent resident of the United States. |
| 3 | Any foreign national who is admitted to or paroled into the United States on or after the effective date of this order. |
| 3 | Any foreign national who has a document other than a visa, valid on the effective date of this order or issued on any date thereafter, that permits him or her to travel to the United States and seek entry or admission, such as an advance parole document. |
| 3 | Any dual national of a country designated under section 2 of this order when the individual is traveling on a passport issued by a non-designated country. |
| 3 | Any foreign national traveling on a diplomatic or diplomatic-type visa, North Atlantic Treaty Organization visa, C-2 visa for travel to the United Nations, or G-1, G-2, G-3, or G-4 visa. |
| 3 | Any foreign national who has been granted asylum. |
| 3 | Any refugee who has already been admitted to the United States. |
| 3 | Any individual who has been granted withholding of removal, advance parole, or protection under the Convention Against Torture. |
Case-by-case determinations
The order also allowed exceptions to the entry ban to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis for the DHS and the Department of State to issue waivers or approval of a visa for travelers from the countries of concern stated in the order.| Citation | Case-by-Case Exceptions listed in Executive Order 13780 |
| 3 | The foreign national has previously been admitted to the United States for a continuous period of work, study, or other long-term activity, is outside the United States on the effective date of this order, seeks to reenter the United States to resume that activity, and the denial of reentry during the suspension period would impair that activity. |
| 3 | The foreign national has previously established significant contacts with the United States but is outside the United States on the effective date of this order for work, study, or other lawful activity. |
| 3 | The foreign national seeks to enter the United States for significant business or professional obligations and the denial of entry during the suspension period would impair those obligations. |
| 3 | The foreign national seeks to enter the United States to visit or reside with a close family member who is a United States citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien lawfully admitted on a valid nonimmigrant visa, and the denial of entry during the suspension period would cause undue hardship. |
| 3 | The foreign national is an infant, a young child or adoptee, an individual needing urgent medical care, or someone whose entry is otherwise justified by the special circumstances of the case. |
| 3 | The foreign national has been employed by, or on behalf of, the United States Government and the employee can document that he or she has provided faithful and valuable service to the United States Government. |
| 3 | The foreign national is traveling for purposes related to an international organization designated under the International Organizations Immunities Act,, traveling for purposes of conducting meetings or business with the United States Government, or traveling to conduct business on behalf of an international organization not designated under the IOIA. |
| 3 | The foreign national is a landed immigrant of Canada who applies for a visa at a location within Canada. |
| 3 | The foreign national is traveling as a United States Government-sponsored exchange visitor. |