After a month of high-profile terror attacks around the United Kingdom, including an incident on Saturday night in London where a van jumped a curb on the London bridge and drove into pedestrians and a fatal explosion in Manchester at an Ariana Grande concert, world leaders are gearing up to talk about ways to keep the world safe.
British Prime Minister Teresa has called for a series of stricter measures to defeat Islamic extremism, including stiffer cyberspace regulations and strengthening the nation's already "robust counter-terrorism strategy."
Meanwhile, in In the United States, Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to chastise the courts for taking away "our rights" while touting the importance his controversial travel ban as an "extra level of safety."
The only problem is, it's not a travel ban.
Or at least that's what White House press secretary has been saying ever since late January when Donald Trump introduced his first executive order that would prohibit travel from to the United States for all citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.
"It's not a Muslim ban," said Spicer to a roomful of reporters. "It's not a travel ban. It's a vetting system to keep America safe."
The first executive order, of course, was blocked by a federal judge, as was an appeal to overturn that decision. In March, President Trump rolled out what many called the Travel Ban 2.0, which was a "watered-down" version of the first executive order, and focused on just six nations. That order has also been blocked and an appeal is now headed to the Supreme Court.
As the administration takes the case to the highest court in the land, it has a vested interest in downplaying the issue as a ban, because, of course, framed as a ban targeted towards Muslims would clearly be unconstitutional and could hurt the outcome of the case.
Any progress the administration might have made in convincing the public, or at least the courts, that this isn't a ban, were pretty much erased last night, when President Trump made it pretty clear that the travel ban which is not a travel ban, really is, well, a travel ban.
The ACLU, in its own tweet, was quick to respond to President Trump tweet.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Trump Appeals Travel Ban to Supreme Court[/READMORE]
"Glad we both agree the ban is a ban," tweeted back the ACLU.
The association calls the "Muslim ban" a "discriminatory affront to the Constitution and the fundamental principle that our country does not discriminate on the basis of religion."
". . .should the court choose to revisit the President's Muslim ban, we will be prepared to defend not only the rights of Muslim Americans and immigrants across our country but our Constitution itself," said the ACLU in a prior statement.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
