A muted backlash to Trump's new travel ban

Politico

2 days ago

What up, Recast fam. On today's agenda:
Donald Trump's newest travel ban is an indication he's become more sophisticated in deploying his immigration agenda during his second swing through the White House.
In 2017, when a freshly inaugurated Trump — then a political novice — issued his haphazard and sweeping executive order banning people from Muslim-majority nations, it incited chaos at airports and drew widespread protests from critics who called it racist and an executive overreach. Legal challenges prevented the full scope of that initial ban from being implemented, but ultimately a watered down version was upheld by the Supreme Court the following year.
The newest ban, which targets mainly African and Middle Eastern nations, went into effect on Monday and has a decent chance of making it through the courts. (More on that momentarily.)
But the most notable shift from Trump's first term was the muted response from the public on the new ban, which fully restricts people visiting the United States from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, and imposes partial restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
One reason may be that the ban's implementation comes amid the escalating tensions in Los Angeles over Trump's unilateral deployment of National Guard troops and Marines into the city to restore order after protests against ICE raids.
But it may also be that the president's opponents are overwhelmed by other episodes.
'There's just so many attacks coming from the Trump administration on all fronts,' said Kerri Talbot, co-executive director of the Immigration Hub. 'It is a little different since it's not the only thing they're doing when they're doing dozens of different actions,' she added, which includes mass deportations of migrants in the U.S. to El Salvador without first going through immigration courts.
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Others argue Trump and his aides have simply gotten more savvy in implementing his travel ban.
The president's first-term ban applied to citizens from eight nations traveling to the U.S. and went into effect immediately — meaning those en route to the country or who had not left domestic airports when the order was issued were detained there. The proclamation issued last week is far more methodical and does not apply to those with existing legal status in the U.S. Further, the newest order cited perceived risks to national security, high rates of visa overstays and lax vetting protocols of the foreign nations as justifications for the ban.
Those policy tweaks may have contributed to why there's been a less spirited critique of these new travel restrictions and why the effort might hold up in court.
'It's not an emergency like what he created in 2017,' said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which sued the administration over its first-term ban. 'I think there will be some time for reactions to pile up. But again, because this ban doesn't have any instant impact — in particular, people already have legal status — I think that's why you're not going to see the same reaction you saw in 2017 with mass protests breaking out at airports.'
Others criticize congressional Democrats for being flat-footed on the immigration messaging, saying their statements railing against the ban will not cut it.
'There's no strategy, no conversation, no decent talking point,' said Nana Gyamfi, executive director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration. 'I think this would be an issue that a congressperson would give a damn about.'
Some immigration advocates also criticize Trump in particular for going after Haiti, the poor, majority-Black nation that is approximately 600 miles south of Florida's shores and is heavily reliant on U.S. aid.
Guerline Jozef, the co-founder and executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, recalled how Trump famously referred to Haiti as one of the 'shithole' nations during a 2018 White House meeting with a bipartisan group of senators where they were discussing details of an immigration lottery program. Trump at the time suggested the U.S. needed to admit more people from places like Norway instead. Jozef said Trump's recent refugee resettlement of white South Africans to the U.S. is evidence that he's not changed his attitude toward majority-Black nations.
'The [administration's] main goal is to create pain, trauma and terror, instead of welcoming people with dignity [from] the countries they have put in the list,' she said. 'They continue to intentionally create those policies … that are centered in the destruction and the unwelcoming of Black people.'
We'll continue to monitor how this latest immigration ban and the ongoing clashes in Los Angeles continue to play out.
All the best,The Recast Team
NEW JERSEY GOV PRIMARY
Nearly a dozen candidates are vying for the Democratic and Republican nominations to replace Phil Murphy, New Jersey's term-limited governor.
As my colleagues Madison Fernandez and Danial Han point out, this primary contest is the most competitive in recent history, with the Democratic side appearing to be a bit more up in the air than the GOP contest.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill is seen as the betting favorite to secure victory in today's Democratic primary, which is expected to draw a relatively low turnout. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, however, earned national attention last month when he was arrested during a demonstration with several lawmakers who were attempting to inspect Delaney Hall, a privately operated federal immigration detention center that Democrats and progressive activists accused of violating safety protocols. Other candidates in the crowded primary field include Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller and former state Senate President Steve Sweeney.
Trump, of course, looms large in the GOP primary. He endorsed Jack Ciattarelli, a former state representative who narrowly lost to Murphy four years ago. His chief opponent is Bill Spadea, a former radio host who also is claiming the MAGA mantle.
New Jersey is just one of two states holding statewide elections in the fall. The other is Virginia, and while the latter is considered the more swingy of the two, Trump made traditionally blue New Jersey's contest far closer than predicted in the 2024 presidential election, losing to Kamala Harris there by just 6 percentage points.
Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING THIS WEEK
HOGG TIRED — There continues to be fallout from the extraordinary admission from Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin that 'I don't know if I wanna do this anymore.' POLITICO's Holly Otterbein obtained a Zoom recording from last month where Martin described his deep frustration over DNC Vice Chair David Hogg's vow to drop $20 million to oust Democratic lawmakers in safe seats that Hogg sees as ineffective.
And more:
FIRST IN THE RECAST – The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a leading coalition of Latino civil rights and advocacy organizations sent a memo to top Senate Republicans, including Majority Leader John Thune, expressing their 'grave concern' and demanding a course correction on the president's 'big beautiful bill' currently before Congress.
'Latino communities, who disproportionately work in lower-wage jobs that do not offer employer-sponsored health insurance, will be especially affected,' the coalition writes in their memo, arguing the hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid cuts will be detrimental to their communities. 'The narrative that these cuts are necessary to eliminate 'fraud and abuse' is both misleading and dangerous,' the letter continues, 'These families are not abusing the system—they are surviving because of it.'
TODAY'S CULTURE RECS
Sly Stone tributes — Considered one of the 1960s' most groundbreaking musicians, Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart and the leader of the band Sly and the Family Stone, which blended rock, R&B and soul music, died Monday. He was 82. Read about him here, and check out this listicle featuring the group's essential hits.
Stephen A. Smith and Jon Stewart chop it up — Sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smith, who is said to be flirting with a presidential run, sat down for an extended segment Monday night on 'The Daily Show.'
'Hamilton' is celebrated at the Tony Awards — Check out the OG cast reuniting for a rocking performance.
Misty Copeland retires — The barrier-breaking ballet dancer is ready for her next chapter. She reflects on her storied career with the AP.