Resolution filed denouncing President Trump's Travel Ban
The first order of business Monday morning for state representative Rafael Anchia was to make a statement about law, order and civility.
"Look everyone wants to be safe, everybody wants to follow the rule of law, right, we need to make sure the Commander in Chief does that, but this was a huge overreach,” said Rep Anchia.
To make that point the Dallas democrat drafted a house resolution to condemn President Trump's travel ban executive order. Trump's order bans travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days while also halting the processing of refugees from the war in Syria. The Anchia Resolution describes Trump's order as an “open act of discrimination against Muslims”, a constitutional violation against American citizens, and a violation of due process. It’s not known when HR 220 will reach the house floor, but the representative believes the president can take steps now to end the controversy.
"The discussion is, pull this off the books, withdraw the Executive Order, and lets have a community conversation, about how we do this so our allies, our friends who are helping us fight Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State, can be stronger and not weakened by what we do,” said Anchia.
The political aspect of this situation may not be resolved until the next General Election. But the practical impact is being addressed right now. A legal team at Foster Global, which specializes in immigration issues, spent Monday putting together a travel plan advisory. Attorney Robert Loughran says the guide is for companies that send employees, who are U.S. citizens, to overseas hotspots. It will also help with foreign national employees who could get caught up in travel bans.
"We have to evaluate the risk, and communicate that to the client, and then they have to make a judgment call about whether this particular trip is worth that risk, whether the cost benefit is, with the possibility of getting stuck out side of the U.S., is worth it and there will be certain people, when you are not able to make that flight, you are not going to make the next flight,” said Loughran.
Travel problems, unlike the travel ban, may not fade away. Loughran told FOX 7 those who get tagged now may find it difficult to book flights in the future.
"We tell clients, you can never get anything out of the computer system, you can just add to it, we describe it like a credit record. Once you get a mark on your credit record it’s almost impossible to expunge it, or take it off, rather you have to explain it,” said Loughran.
As difficult as that may sound, it may pale in comparison with trying to resolve the political controversy started by the executive order.