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Abstract: This Article seeks to address this scholarly and discursive void, and at minimum, commence scholarly investigation into the Travel Ban’s impact beyond the border. It examines the deployment of the Travel Ban as a domestic War on Terror tool, and the counterterror risks it poses for Muslim immigrants, residents and citizens within the U.S. Far beyond airport checkpoints and the jurisdiction of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Travel Ban is wielded by FBI agents and their on-the-ground watchdogs to: (1) brand immigrants from the prohibited states as potential ‘radicals,’ a designation that can prompt their removal or deportation by ICE; and (2) as leverage to intimidate, pressure and subsequently enlist Muslim immigrants to work as community informants by FBI and local enforcement, trading stay from deportation and other incentives in exchange for working within the CVE policing framework. Beyond the effect on immigrants, the Travel Ban’s extreme vetting, and data gathering, of all parties traveling to the restricted states also exposes Muslim citizens and LPR’s to enhanced threat of CVE suspicion and investigation, which circumscribes and chills protected First Amendment activity.
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