Trump administration restarts vetting review called for in travel ban

The Trump administration said Tuesday it was restarting a long-delayed global review of vetting procedures to screen foreigners trying to enter the United States that may lead to more travel restrictions against citizens of other countries.

The core of President Trump's executive order for a travel ban targeting six majority-Muslim countries remains blocked by federal courts, with lawyers on both sides waiting for the Supreme Court to decide whether it will hear the case. 

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco ruled last week that one section of Trump's order can go into effect. That portion orders federal agencies to review how the U.S. screens foreigners and determines whether foreign governments are handing over enough information about their citizens.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan said Tuesday that the review will begin immediately.

"The ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals finally allows DHS to resume the important work of reviewing the information provided by all countries on their citizens who desire to travel to the United States, to ensure the applicant doesn’t present a security or public safety threat to the U.S.," Lapan said.

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Trump's travel ban would temporarily ban most travel from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days and suspend the entire refugee program for 120 days. The White House said the main reason for that pause was to give the administration time to review the vetting procedures to ensure that possible terrorists don't sneak into the country posing as legal travelers.

Critics, including the ACLU and other legal groups, counter that the administration has shown little interest in carrying out the review. The section of Trump's order calling for the vetting review was in place for nearly two months before it was blocked by the courts, yet Homeland Security has said it made little progress during that time.

That's why critics argue that Trump was trying to implement a "Muslim ban" he called for during his presidential campaign. 

The review will be conducted by Homeland Security, the State Department and the director of national intelligence and must be completed within 20 days. Lapan said the department was still figuring out when that 20-day time period starts.

Once the review is complete, individual countries will be given 50 days to begin providing the information requested by the U.S. If they fail to do so, Trump could issue a presidential proclamation "that would prohibit the entry of appropriate categories of foreign nationals of countries that have not provided the information requested."