Donald Trump ended his first week as president by signing an executive order that means citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen will not be allowed to enter the United States.
Although the travel ban is one of a series of measures aimed – according to Trump – at “protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry”, people have been quick to point out that there is no obvious correlation between the countries affected by the ban and actual attacks in the United States. For example, none of the 9/11 hijackers came from any of the seven designated countries and, according to figures covering a 40-year period up to the end of 2015, foreigners from the seven countries have not killed any Americans in terrorist attacks on US soil.
However, a careful reading of the executive order [text here] shows that Trump does not claim there is any correlation. Nor does he claim that the ban will directly reduce the chances of attacks. Instead, he offers an even weirder explanation: that the ban has been introduced for administrative convenience.
Trump’s order begins with a preamble saying scrutiny of visa applications was tightened up after the 9/11 attacks but “these measures did not stop attacks by foreign nationals who were admitted to the United States”. It continues: