DONALD TRUMP MAY be coming to Ireland this month, and some people are really not happy about it.
The AAA-PBP and Green Party have planned protests in Co Clare, with Deputy Richard Boyd-Barrett labelling the presumptive Republican presidential nominee a “dangerous, racist, sexist, warmonger.”
And although the trip was cast into some doubt earlier this week, with the Irish leg being provisionally taken off Trump’s British Isles itinerary, others want to go further than protests.
In December, two petitions were submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Oversight and Petitions demanding that Trump be banned from even setting foot in Ireland.
A similar petition on the Uplift.ie website has garnered more than 1,000 signatures.
Let’s assume those who want to keep him out of the country also believe it’s possible to keep him out of the country. So is it?
(Remember, if you see a claim you’re not sure about, email factcheck@thejournal.ie).
Claim: Donald Trump can be banned from entering Ireland
Verdict: TRUE
There are lots of reasons why a non-Irish national can be denied entry to Ireland. Not having the right visa, having past convictions for certain crimes, and so on.
Let’s assume Donald Trump has his paperwork in order. Could he still be kept out of the country, as some argue, on the basis of his rhetoric?
Is a ban legally possible?
The 2004 Immigration Act lists 13 grounds for a visitor to be denied entry into Ireland. You can read them here.
We know from his recent medical report that Trump doesn’t have syphilis or a “profound mental disturbance”, as mentioned in the act, and we can safely assume he doesn’t plan to take up work in Ireland.
So only two exclusion conditions are really relevant here.
Section 4.3 (f)(iii) states:
(3) Subject to section 2 (2), an immigration officer may, on behalf of the Minister, refuse to give a permission to a person referred to in subsection (2)if the officer is satisfied—(f) that the non-national is the subject of—(iii) a determination by the Minister that it is conducive to the public good that he or she remain outside the State.
Section 4.3 (j) also allows immigration officers to block someone from entering Ireland, if they decide:
that the non-national’s entry into, or presence in, the State could pose a threat to national security or be contrary to public policy.
So if Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald decides it would be in the interest of the “public good” or “public policy” for Trump to be kept out, she is legally authorised to make an order to that effect.
And the Minister is not precluded by law from banning Trump. There are certain categories of individuals to which the ordinary rules in this respect, do not apply, such as foreign heads of state, office-holders and diplomats.
Trump is a private citizen, and so none of these exceptions apply to him.
Patricia Brazil, professor of law at Trinity College Dublin, told TheJournal.ie:
In my view, the Minister does not have an absolute discretion under section 4 as this term is not used in the section. However, I think the nature and extent of the discretion that the Minister does have under section 4 is a very broad one.
The courts have long recognised that the power to regulate migration is a particularly sensitive area and that the power to make these decisions rests with the Minister for Justice on behalf of the State.
A person denied entry to Ireland can initiate a judicial review in the High Court, but as Professor Brazil explains:
Provided the Minister has taken all relevant considerations into account in making her decision (and conversely, has excluded any irrelevant considerations), and provided her decision is not contrary to the Constitution or the [European Convention on Human Rights], then the courts would be unlikely to interfere with a decision to refuse a person permission to enter Ireland.
Are there plausible grounds to ban Trump?
The Department of Justice told us “There is naturally no exhaustive list of factors in determining what is ‘conducive to the public good/public policy’.”
However, it did mention some of the factors that can be taken into account, such as:
Criminal activity/convictions; terrorism related activity; immigration abuse; threats to public order; persons subject to UN travel bans…
And a look through the news archives gives us a sense of the type of high-profile individuals barred from Ireland over the years. For example:
The Republican nominee has never been charged with incitement to hatred, inciting a riot or inciting violence.
But he has been accused of it, with statements he has directed towards Latinos and Muslims, as well as protesters at his rallies.
The stated purpose of his would-be trip is to visit his golf course in Doonbeg, though, rather than to hold a rally.
However, regardless of whether Trump is likely to make statements that would incite violence or hatred of certain groups, the Minister could decide that his mere presence in Ireland would risk provoking public disorder, especially given the protests planned around his visit.
Is a ban likely?
None of those previously banned from Ireland were potentially seven months away from becoming the world’s most powerful person, in command of the economy of one of Ireland’s biggest trading partners and sources of investment.
And when Trump announced his visit earlier this month, a government spokesperson told the Irish Times:
Mr Trump, like every tourist, will be more than welcome to Ireland and we hope he has a pleasant stay.
This hardly indicates an inclination to keep him out of the country.
Irish law certainly authorises and gives the Minister for Justice wide discretion to bar a non-national, travelling in a private capacity, from entering the country.
So the claim – that Donald Trump can be banned from Ireland – is TRUE.
There are probably also plausible grounds for such a decision, especially if it was determined that his presence alone could provoke disorder. It would not be entirely arbitrary or without any evidential basis.
However, given the potential political and economic ramifications, previous statements made on behalf of the government, and the purportedly apolitical purpose of Trump’s visit, a ban is probably unlikely.
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