By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

AS CONCERNS mount worldwide over the United States’ new travel ban affecting seven Middle Eastern countries, US Embassy Chargé d’affaires Lisa Johnson yesterday insisted that the changes will not impact Bahamian passport holders or US pre-clearance at Bahamian airports.

Mrs Johnson, who heads the Nassau embassy, confirmed that American President Donald Trump’s executive order has been implemented in Bahamian airports with respect to non-immigrant and immigrant visas.

She added that the transition to the Trump administration has not resulted in a change in the bilateral relationship of The Bahamas and the US.

“There is no change in the US-Bahamas bilateral relationship,” Mrs Johnson said, “and we’re continuing to work on the same issues here that we have always worked on, on security, on commerce, on travel and tourism the one change is the executive order that was released on Friday does apply worldwide with respect to non-immigrant and immigrant visas and so that is being implemented at the airport here as it is around the world.”

Last Friday, President Trump signed an executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and suspending all refugee admission for 120 days.

The surprise order caused mass confusion and led to many from those countries who had legal authorisation to travel to the US being detained.

One of these people was Syrian-born Dr Tarek Alasil, who according to a report from the Connecticut Post, was detained while trying to travel from The Bahamas back to Boston on Saturday.

The article said Dr Alasil “cut short a medical mission treating indigent cataract patients” in The Bahamas on Saturday “on the advice of Yale colleagues and immigration lawyers who urged him to return to Connecticut immediately”.

After being detained for hours, Dr Alasil, said to be a US green card holder, was later allowed to travel to Boston.

When asked yesterday what impact the executive order will have on the country, particularly its Muslim community, Mrs Johnson said: “No impact on Bahamians, there is no change in the travel status and opportunities for Bahamians either with visas or through pre-clearance in Nassau and Freeport, there is no change.”

She added: “It will not have an impact on any Bahamian passport holders, no.”

Mrs Johnson responded to questions placed by The Tribune after signing a bilateral agreement renewing the five-year lease of the AUTEC facility at Andros to the United States.

At that briefing, Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell underscored that the testing undertaken at the facility was critical to the defence arrangements of the Western Hemisphere.

The Bahamas was thrust into the international spotlight over the weekend during commentary on the travel ban by an MSNBC correspondent, who claimed the neighbouring archipelago had terrorist links to ISIS.

The unsubstantiated claim by Malcolm Nance, a contributor with reportedly 35 years of experience in US intelligence, on Saturday was immediately refuted by officials, and later by Mr Nance himself, amid viral outrage from Bahamians on social media.

Appearing as a guest on MSNBC’s AM Joy, hosted by Joy-Ann Reid, Mr Nance pointed out that “terrorists” from Brazil, Trinidad, and the Bahamas had not been blocked, suggesting that these countries had higher numbers of “terrorist members.”

Concerns over ISIS recruits from Trinidad were highlighted in 2015 and 2016.

Responding to demands for an apology on Twitter, Mr Nance conceded and referred to an Interpol report last year that falsely identified one of the brothers believed to be responsible for the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium as having Bahamian citizenship.

In a follow up tweet, Mr Nance suggested that persons “might want to keep focus on how the Bahamas is viewed by a Trump administration.”

Yesterday, Mr Mitchell said: “The United States has indicated that they have no information which supports what that individual has said and I understand that he retracted what he said in any event. Our lawyers are dealing with the matter in the US and I think I’ll have more to say once that’s been done.” He continued: “There is no evidence that that is correct and true and the person himself has backed off the statement. We believe that MSNBC ought to formerly back off the statement because it was said in a offhand manner, the tweet which was the response was not sufficient in our view, because it’s dismissive and he also goes on in another point to make some other allegations which were irrelevant to this point.”