Donald Trump signed a revised executive order this morning in an attempt to reinstate a ban on travel and immigration from Muslim-majority countries.
The order temporarily bans nationals from six Muslim-majority countries, instead of seven. Under this order, nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen will not be able to obtain visas from the United States for 90 days.
The original executive order included nationals from Iraq, but the new version does not. According to the White House, this is due to “negotiations that have taken place between the Government of Iraq and the U.S. Department of State in the last month.” Most likely this is due to the United States cooperation with Iraq to fight terrorism and “Iraq’s commitment to combat Isis.”
The order also continues to call for suspension of all refugee resettlement for 120 days while the Department of Homeland Security reviews “screening procedures to ensure refugees admitted in the future do not pose a security risk to the United States.”
In order to eliminate some of the confusion from the first travel ban, green card holders, dual nationals, current visa holders, diplomats, and people that have already been granted asylum or refugee status are not affected under this order.
Syrian refugees are also no longer being called out for an indefinite ban and are instead being grouped with the suspension of refugee resettlement as a whole.
The original executive order was blocked by a federal judge. The block was upheld by an appeals court who refused the justice department’s request to reinstate it.
Grace Meng, an immigration researcher for Human Rights Watch’s U.S. program still argues that the ban violates civil rights. “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 U.S. as a refuge for those at greater risk.”
The new ban will go into effect on March 16.
COMMENTS