Can Terrorists Enter US Through Saudi Arabia? US Embassy Issuing Visas After Trump Travel Ban Temporarily Lifted

The two United States diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia have begun processing previously submitted visa applications from citizens of the seven countries named in President Donald Trump’s travel ban. The U.S. Embassy in the capital of Riyadh and the U.S. consulate in Jeddah were also scheduling appointments for new visa applications after a U.S. federal court temporarily lifted Trump's executive order, Arab News reported. The process started back up Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia, one of the U.S.' strongest Middle East allies, was not one of the predominantly Muslim countries listed on Trump’s executive order nearly two weeks ago. However, a Seattle-based U.S. federal judge placed a restraining order Friday on the travel ban, which now hinges on a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco.

“The U.S. Department of State had, under the executive order, provisionally revoked all valid visas of nationals of those seven countries, with limited exceptions. That provisional revocation is now lifted, and those visas are now valid for travel to the United States if the holder is otherwise eligible,” a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Johann Schmonsees, said Tuesday.

Schmonsees also said that “individuals whose visas are expired, or were canceled, must apply for a new visa at a US embassy or consulate, absent a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) decision to grant parole or waive the visa requirement at the port of entry.”

The ban applied to Libya, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, but not Saudi Arabia, where 15 of the 19 Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists came from. Also left off the list was Egypt, from where 9/11 leader Mohammed Atta originated. Unless the court upholds Trump's ban, the immigrants from the seven countries were permitted to travel to the U.S.

Applicants can head to either the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Riyadh or to the U.S. consulate in Jeddah.

The Saudis have largely remained silent on the travel ban as they hope likely were looking to not disrupt a new president whom they believe could help them against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported last month. Initially, Saudi Foreign Minister Abdel al-Jubeir called a possible travel ban “very very dangerous” but later backtracked and said he was “very very optimistic about the Trump administration.

“The ban puts Saudi Arabia in an awkward position,” professor of conflict resolution at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies Ibrahim Fraihat told The Journal. “Saudi Arabia will be expected to take a position against it because some of the countries included in the ban like Sudan and Yemen are key allies and because it projects itself as leader of the Muslim world.”

Trump also spoke to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Jan. 29, touching on a number of topics, including relations between the two nations and as well as how to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis.

“The president requested and the King agreed to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, as well as supporting other ideas to help the many refugees who are displaced by the ongoing conflicts,” the White House said according to The Journal.