U.S. President Donald Trump has tweaked an already controversial travel ban, but the question remains whether the ban will make the United States safer from crime and terrorism.
The president on Sunday issued a proclamation that restricted travel into the United States from a handful of countries, including Chad, Iran, Libya, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen.
The new ban comes after myriad legal challenges to the initial ban, which originally placed restrictions on citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who wanted to enter the United States.
On Sunday night, Trump tweeted that "Making America Safe is my number one priority. We will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet," but the question remains whether the measure will have the intended effect.
James Carafano, a national security analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. think tank, noted that the new rules were based on a review of countries' capacity and cooperation in thwarting terrorist travel.
"From a U.S. perspective, there is little downside. We have seen terrorist groups use visas and refugee status to travel to other countries. So yes, it is prudent," he told Xinhua, speaking of the new travel ban.
The baseline for the restrictions is the new guidelines the administration issued, which include factors such as whether passports from issuing countries have biometric information, and whether those countries share information about travelers' terror or criminal-related histories. Countries were given 50 days to comply.
However, some experts believe Trump's measures won't make the country any safer.
"I'm not sure how some of the additions make the country any safer," Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, a non-profit and non-partisan policy and education organization located in Washington, told Xinhua.
Mahaffee said that among the new nations on the list, the central African country of Chad has seen some terrorist activities related to al-Qaida and Boko Haram affiliates.
But, by and large, the additions seem to be measures designed to blunt potential court challenges or criticism that the ban is targeted solely at majority Muslim countries, Mahaffee said.
Targeted intelligence and law enforcement measures towards potential radicals traveling to the United States, as well as those already in the United States who might become self-radicalized, could be more effective, Mahaffee said. Doing so, and avoiding blanket bans that ultimately damage perceptions of the United States, could have better security outcomes in the long run, he noted.
Some experts, like Mahaffee, also surmise that adding the new nations to the list seems to be a bid to prevent court challenges to the travel ban, as the measure saw many legal challenges from the lower courts in the past several months.
Courts claimed the initial travel ban singled out Muslims, as the measure impacted a handful of countries that were all majority Muslim. Opponents of that argument noted dozens of nations worldwide were not included in the list, such as Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Experts say the new ban may be more difficult to be challenged in court, as opponents can no longer bill it a "Muslim ban," as critics called it.
Indeed, on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court postponed a previously scheduled hearing on the issue, in light of the new countries included in the travel ban.
The new list is nevertheless expected to see protests. While protesters have been vocal in their opposition, Trump's base will likely continue to support the travel restrictions.
Darrell West, senior fellow at U.S. leading think tank the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua that Trump's base will continue to support the travel ban while opponents will be unhappy about widening the ban to certain Latin American nations.
