Donald Trump’s executive order 'threatens all immigration and tourism' in the small print

Section four mandates that everyone coming to the US should be a 'positively contributing member to society'

Tens of millions came to the US with a visa in 2015, and tens of millions more without

Donald Trump’s executive order to temporarily ban nearly all travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries more than a week ago caused massive protests and multiple lawsuits, outrage from civil rights groups and tens of thousands of people had their visas revoked.

It was also the only executive order on the White House website whose title was written in capital letters.

"PROTECTING THE NATIONAL FROM FOREIGN TERRORIST ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES" generated plenty of headlines.

But a smaller section of the order may have been missed, and it could be of critical importance.

Under Section four, it reads there will be "development of a uniform screening standard and procedure" and suggests but does not mandate interviews, and thorough back-ground checks.

Legal experts argue this phrase could affect every foreign visitor to the US, including diplomats, corporate transfers, foreign employees and even tourists who are trying to visit Disney World.

"It would basically shut down tourism," Stephen Legomsky, the former chief counsel for US Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Obama administration, told Politico.

As stated in the order, the "mechanism" to determine if the visitor has "malicious intent" is not specified.

The section also requires that all visitors and immigrants would be a "positively contributing member of society", but again, this is left vague.

Anastasia Tonello, first vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said those two specifications struck her as odd.

"There are no criteria under the existing statute that you would have to be a positive contributing member to society, but they [the government] do have broad discretion and they can deny people without giving a reason," she told The Independent.

She added that she had been very worried about the lack of clarity around dual nationality, and that was only clarified this week that the ban would not apply there.

The US already heavily vets immigrants.

Syrian refugees, of which Mr Obama took in around 12,500 last year, underwent a process that lasted at least two years. No Syrian immigrant has been charged with the intent to, or has carried out, a terrorist attack on US soil in the last four decades, a report from the Cato Institute found.

The executive order has already come under fire for being rolled out hastily and poorly, with no guidance to airports and airlines who had to deal with incoming visitors and immigrants from the seven countries who were in the air when Mr Trump banned them from the US.

Students, families and even officials were caught in the ban - an Iraqi translator who had worked for the US for years and whose family lived in the US was one of dozens who were placed in handcuffs when their flight landed.

In 2015, more than 10 million people travelled to the US on a visa, while tens of millions more came without one. Section four of the order calls for the secretary of state, secretary of homeland security, director of national intelligence and the director of the FBI to develop a "uniform procedure" for all of them.

A State Department official said: "Working closely with the Department of Homeland Security, we are implementing the Executive Order. We will announce any changes affecting travellers to the United States as soon as that information is available."

The government agencies are currently trying to navigate the ruling as to how it applies to the seven countries in the order - Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.

They will now also have to deal with a lawsuit from Washington’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson, which judge James Robart ruled in favour of, which essentially blocks the Muslim ban nationwide.

"No one is above the law," Mr Ferguson said. "Not even the President."

The Justice Department quickly responded to say it would implement an emergency stay of the order, and Mr Trump said the ruling was "ridiculous".

Section four of the original order has not laid out a timeline for the new uniform procedure, but has asked the secretary of homeland security to submit three reports, within 60 days, 100 and 200 days, on the departments’ progress.

The executive order was also applied to visa and green card holders from the seven countries - an issue that Mr Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon reportedly pushed for.

It could be an early indication of blanket procedures the new government wishes to adopt.