In a speech Wednesday, President Trump announced a ban on travelers from Europe. This led to a lot of initial confusion over what Trump meant by “Europe,” and whether trade in goods was banned too (Trump said it was, but the White House quickly clarified that this was not the case). Trump also said that the United Kingdom would be exempted from the ban, prompting a lot of speculation as to what exactly was going on. It turns out that the ban — and the exception for the United Kingdom — is not quite as arbitrary as it sounds. Trump’s ban extends to countries in the so-called “Schengen area,” an area that includes most states that are members of the European Union (as well as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland). The Schengen area does not include the UK or the Republic of Ireland, whose Taoiseach (prime minister) is meeting Trump Thursday for the traditional presentation of a bowl of shamrock. So what is Schengen, and why has the Trump administration targeted it?
[brag]I learned about it a few years ago when I flew from Frankfurt to Warsaw and on to Krakow and nobody asked to see my passport. I was a little bummed not to get an arrival stamp in Poland.[/brag]
