In the United States, over 5 million COVID19 cases have been confirmed till date. In response to dealing with the pandemic with a firmer grip, the Trump administration is considering a short-term ban on the entry of US citizens and green card holders returning from COVID19-hit countries including India. The new proposal on the United States’ travel restrictions for inbound travelers may allow border officials to temporarily bar potential COVID19 positive people, no matter if they are citizens or legal permanent residents.
Recently, India did just the opposite of what the US government is mulling over. The government of India lifted travel restrictions for OCI cardholders, irrespective of any category, allowing them to enter India starting August 8, 2020.
Any unprecedented move blocking entry to the US for American citizens and legal permanent residents is fundamentally unconstitutional. Reportedly, a draft of the newly proposed travel regulations has been sent to federal agencies for their feedback. Inimical to US citizens and green card holders’ civil rights, President Trump’s new proposal makes little sense given that hundreds of thousands of American citizens and legal permanent residents have repatriated to the US since before the coronavirus outbreak became a pandemic.
The draft memo of the new proposal reads, “US citizens and permanent residents can be prevented from entering the country only in the rarest of circumstances and in the interest of public health. The blocking will be limited in duration ensuring that no Constitutional rights are infringed.” The temporary ban will apply to potential COVID19 cases among the citizens and green card holders arriving at all points of entry, including airports, in the United States.
However, media reports on Trump’s newly proposed travel regulations have already sent jitters to the US citizens and legal permanent residents who are scheduled to travel back to the country this month or in September 2020. Many American nationals and green card holders have already booked travel on United Airlines from India to the USA.
In President Trump’s proposal of new travel regulations, there is no clue to how COVID19 suspects among the returning US citizens and legal permanent residents will be detected. Whether they will be put to a COVID19 test on arrival in the USA or they will have to travel back to the USA carrying a COVID19 test certificate, is not hinted at in the draft memo.
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