Royal Visits Are Over for Trump: Travel Severely Restricted for Convicted Felons

Trump still not prohibited from running for president or taking office

No royal red carpets for convicted felons
Ann apparently none-too-convivial former President Donald Trump strolls with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace during a royal visit there in 2019. Britain bars entry to convicted felons, which Trump has since become. Photo by VICTORIA JONES/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

While Donald Trump's guilty verdict won't prevent him from voting (in most states), running for president or taking office if he wins, former activities like visiting the British royal family is now off-limits as travel is severely restricted for convicted felons.

Some 37 countries — including the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, China, Japan, India and Israel — prohibit convicted felons from entering.

Unless Trump's convictions are overturned on appeal or nations make exceptions if the felon becomes president, Trump would be barred from visits to those countries.

The United States also bars entry to foreigners convicted of felonies if the crimes involve "moral turpitude," such as unethical behavior like the fraud charges against Trump. That restriction, however, does not apply to U.S. citizens.

But high-profile visits by Trump during his campaign to foreign leaders in their own nations would take a hit.

The former president could be barred from leaving New York if he is sentenced to prison and then granted bail during an appeal or placed on probation.

Florida, Trump's state of residence, follows the voting protocol of the state where a felon is convicted. New York denies felons the right to vote, but only while they are serving time in prison.

"New York only disenfranchises people while serving a prison sentence, so assuming Trump is not sentenced to prison time, his rights would be restored by New York law and therefore also in Florida," Blair Bowie, director of the Restore Your Vote program at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, explained to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Trump is also now prohibited from owning a firearm, and cannot serve on a jury unless he obtains a Certificate of Rehabilitation or is pardoned. He can't work as a police officer, ambulance driver or fire fighter, among a number of other jobs, according to the law firm Mazzoni Valvano Szewczyk & Karam.

All restrictions could all be moot depending what the Supreme Court decides concerning Trump's claim of immunity from federal prosecution for official acts he took as president.

Trump's sentencing in the hush-money case is scheduled for July 11.

Tags
Donald Trump, Guilty, Charged, Sentencing, New York, Florida, Bail, Appeal, Supreme court
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