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Trump poised to sign new travel ban against some Muslim-majority countries Revised travel ban: Trump signs order targeting six Muslim-majority countries
(about 2 hours later)
A revised executive order temporarily barring the entry of people from certain Muslim-majority countries and halting the nation’s refugee program is expected to go to Donald Trump soon. Donald Trump has signed a revised executive order to reinstate a ban on immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries and suspend the US refugee program.
A White House official told the Associated Press plans to roll out the order were on track for Monday. The official insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the order ahead of the official announcement. The new travel ban blocks entry to the US for citizens from six of the seven countries named in Trump’s original order, officials at the Department of Homeland Security and state department told reporters on a conference call on Monday.
The administration has repeatedly pushed back the signing as it has worked to better coordinate with the agencies that it will need to implement the ban. The new order has been in the works since shortly after a federal court blocked Trump’s initial effort. The move comes after a federal judge blocked the ban and a federal appeals court upheld that ruling, denying the Justice Department’s request to reinstate it.
Trump administration officials have said the new order aims to overcome the legal challenges to the first. Its goal will be the same: keep would-be terrorists out of the United States while the government reviews the vetting system for refugees and visa applicants from certain parts of the world. As with the previous order, people from Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya will face a 90-day suspension of visa processing. But Iraq will be removed from the list of countries affected. The inclusion of Iraq in the original order had prompted concerns from the national security community because of the country’s role in fighting terrorism alongside US forces.
Trump’s original orders temporarily blocked citizens of Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya from coming to the United States and put on hold the US refugee program. The revised order will keep in place a 120-day suspension of the refugee program, but it will no longer identify Syrian refugees as subject to an indefinite ban. Officials on the call said Syrians would be treated no differently from other refugees seeking asylum in the United States.
The revised order is expected to remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a 90-day US travel ban. That follows pressure from the Pentagon and state department, which had urged the White House to reconsider, given Iraq’s key role in fighting the Islamic State group. The order will not come into effect until 16 March, according to leaked guidance documents published by Just Security, in contrast to the first order which was implemented with immediately.
Iraq expressed “deep relief” at the apparent decision to remove Iraq from a list of countries targeted in a US travel ban, the Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday. “The decision is an important step in the right direction, it consolidates the strategic alliance between Baghdad and Washington in many fields, and at their forefront war on terrorism,” the statement said. Other changes will include an exemption for green card holders, who were swept up in the chaos that resulted from the previous order at airports across the country. Language granting priority to religious minorities for entry has also been scrapped, officials said, while attempting to make the case that the travel ban did not seek to target individuals of any one faith.
According to a draft version of the new order outlined to lawmakers late last week, citizens of the other six countries will face the 90-day suspension of visa processing as the administration continues to analyze how to enhance vetting procedures. “This is not a Muslim ban in any way, shape, or form,” an official told reporters on the call. “There are dozens and hundreds of millions, if not 1-point something billion Muslims who are not subject to this executive order.”
Other changes are also expected, including making clear that all existing visas will be honored and no longer singling out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban. Syrian refugees will now be treated like other refugees and be subjected to a 120-day suspension of the refugee program. The emphasis, the official said, was on countries where the US lacked “the ability to make adequate screening and vetting determinations for nationals under current procedures.
The new version is also expected to remove language that would give priority to religious minorities. Critics had accused the administration of adding such language to help Christians get into the United States while excluding Muslims. “This is not in any way targeted as a Muslim ban. We firmly want to make sure that everyone understands that.”
Trump signed his original executive order in late January, sparking confusion and anger as travelers were detained at US airports and barred from boarding flights at foreign airports. But Grace Meng, an immigration researcher for Human Rights Watch’s US program, argued the reported changes contained within Trump’s revised order were “merely cosmetic”.
The signing is expected to spark a new round of lawsuits and controversy. “President Trump still seems to believe you can determine who’s a terrorist by knowing which country a man, woman or child is from,” Meng said in a statement. “Putting this executive order into effect will only create a false sense of security that genuine steps are being taken to protect Americans from attack, while undermining the standing of the US as a refuge for those at greater risk.”
Reuters contributed to this report The new order is intended to address the legal challenges that stemmed from Trump’s original travel ban, which was issued on 27 January. That order, crafted by Trump’s 31-year-old speechwriter, Steven Miller, and senior adviser Steve Bannon, sparked intense backlash against the White House.
Republicans in Washington criticized the administration for failing to consult with the relevant agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security and state department, as well as members of Congress. Democrats, faith leaders and civil liberties advocates widely condemned the order as the first step in fulfilling Trump’s pledge to ban Muslim immigration to the US.
The White House has continued to defend the travel ban as a pressing matter of national security. But the administration nonetheless delayed its own rollout of the revised order last week, citing a desire not to crowd out the positive media coverage that followed Trump’s joint address before Congress.
Asked if the White House had undermined its own rationale for the travel ban in doing so, officials on the DHS call declined to weigh in after an audible silence.
“I think that question might be best addressed to the White House,” an official said. “Although I don’t think the underlying, very real security concerns are changed in any way.”