Muslim Travel Ban: Executive Orders 13769, 13780, and Presidential Proclamation 9645

Overview

On January 27, 2017 — one week into his first term — President Trump signed Executive Order 13769, titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States." The order immediately suspended entry of nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. It also suspended the entire U.S. refugee admissions program for 120 days and indefinitely barred Syrian refugees.

The order went into effect without notice to federal agencies, airlines, or visa holders in transit. Within hours, foreign nationals — including lawful permanent residents — were detained at airports across the country. Courts issued emergency stays over the following days.

The Three Versions

The administration issued three iterations of the travel restriction, each designed to address judicial objections while preserving the core country-specific bar:

EO 13769 (January 27, 2017) was the broadest, covering seven countries and including a preference for religious minorities (widely understood as favoring Christians). Courts blocked it almost immediately on due process and establishment clause grounds.

EO 13780 (March 6, 2017) removed Iraq, eliminated the religious preference language, and narrowed the scope to foreign nationals without existing U.S. ties. Courts again blocked it, with courts finding that Trump's own campaign statements — calling for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States" — showed religious animus underlying the facially neutral language.

Presidential Proclamation 9645 (September 24, 2017) framed the restrictions as responses to specific countries' failure to meet information-sharing standards. It added Chad, North Korea, and Venezuelan government officials. The Supreme Court allowed this version to take full effect in December 2017 and upheld it 5-4 in Trump v. Hawaii (2018).

Legal and Human Impact

The bans collectively stranded thousands of refugees approved for resettlement, separated families, and blocked students, researchers, and workers with valid visas. Pew Research estimated that the number of Muslim refugees admitted to the U.S. fell by roughly 91% between fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2018.

In dissent in Trump v. Hawaii, Justice Sotomayor wrote that the majority's reasoning was indistinguishable from the logic that produced Korematsu v. United States — the discredited 1944 ruling upholding Japanese American internment. Chief Justice Roberts's majority opinion formally repudiated Korematsu while reaching a result Sotomayor argued was functionally equivalent.

International Law Concerns

The refugee ban violated the spirit of the United States' obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion in the grant of refugee protection. The blanket suspension of refugee admissions — including for persons whose protection claims had already been determined — was inconsistent with non-refoulement obligations.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees called on the United States to "maintain its commitment to the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers" and to honor the 1951 Convention.