With Trump’s “extreme vetting” extending to Pakistan and others, nearly all U.S. institutions with a global reach will be cut off from some members. Internet Society Board Member Walid Al-Saqaf, from Yemen, can’t attend the IETF meeting next month in Chicago. Board Member Alice Munyua from Kenya may also have to skip the event. “There is a high threat from terrorism in Kenya,” the British government reports. Kenyans likely will require extreme vetting. ICANN board member Kaveh Ranjbar, born in Iran, has also been appointed to the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee. Update: Keveh posted that he has been blocked from attending an ICANN Board event in Los Angeles despite having a current U.S. visa and a Dutch passport. Update 2 Jari Arkko, IETF Chair, just blogged that the IETF is reviewing plans for future meetings in the United States. Below
From now on, people from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and others will face, per Trump, “Extreme vetting. It’s going to be very hard to come in. You’re going to see. You’re going to see. We’re going to have extreme vetting in all cases. And I mean extreme. And we’re not letting people in if we think there’s even a little chance of some problem.” Anyone from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan are blocked. New reports suggest the extreme vetting will apply to anyone with ties to countries with what he calls a terrorism problem. Egypt, Nigeria, and Mali face active insurgencies resulting in many casualties. So does India, both in Kashmir and West Bengal. Update: Jari Arkko of IETF blogged, “We are already reviewing what to do as far as location for the next open North American meeting slot.”
IETF has a “mandatory” requirement to include in site selection whether “Travel barriers to entry, e.g. visa requirements that can limit participation, are acceptable.”