Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/17-965_h315.pdf
Page Number: 9

4 

TRUMP v. HAWAII 

Opinion of the Court 

developed  a  “baseline”  for  the  information  required  from 
foreign governments to confirm the identity of individuals 
seeking  entry  into  the  United  States,  and  to  determine 
whether  those  individuals  pose  a  security  threat.    §1(c).
The  baseline  included  three  components.  The  first, 
“identity-management information,” focused on whether a
foreign  government  ensures  the  integrity  of  travel  docu-
ments  by  issuing  electronic  passports,  reporting  lost  or
stolen passports, and making available additional identity-
related  information.  Second,  the  agencies  considered  the
extent to which the country discloses information on crim-
inal  history  and  suspected  terrorist  links,  provides  travel 
document  exemplars,  and  facilitates  the  U. S.  Govern-
ment’s receipt of information about airline passengers and 
crews traveling to the United States.  Finally, the agencies
weighed  various  indicators  of  national  security  risk,
including whether the foreign state is a known or potential 
terrorist  safe  haven  and  whether  it  regularly  declines  to 
receive  returning  nationals  following  final  orders  of 
removal from the United States.  Ibid. 

DHS  collected  and  evaluated  data  regarding  all  foreign 
governments.  §1(d).  It  identified  16  countries  as  having 
deficient  information-sharing  practices  and  presenting
national security concerns, and another 31 countries as “at 
risk” of similarly failing to meet the baseline.  §1(e).  The 
State  Department  then  undertook  diplomatic  efforts  over 
a  50-day  period  to  encourage  all  foreign  governments  to 
improve  their  practices.  §1(f ).    As  a  result  of  that  effort, 
numerous  countries  provided  DHS  with  travel  document
exemplars  and  agreed  to  share  information  on  known  or
suspected terrorists.  Ibid. 

Following  the  50-day  period,  the  Acting  Secretary  of
Homeland Security concluded that eight countries—Chad, 
Iran,  Iraq,  Libya,  North  Korea,  Syria,  Venezuela,  and 
Yemen—remained  deficient  in  terms  of  their  risk  profile
and  willingness  to  provide  requested  information.    The