02/23/2017

White House Pushes Back New Travel Order

New order expected to be issued next week

The White House has said it will not release a new executive order on travel and refugees until next week.

President Trump and other administration officials said the new travel ban will be responsive to the courts that halted the previous order that temporarily banned travelers from seven mostly-Muslim countries from entering the U.S. and suspended all refugee admissions for 120 days.

The initial ban, handed down by the Trump administration on Jan. 27, created chaos at airports around the country and confusion about whether the order applied to legal permanent residents of the U.S. The administration later clarified that the order did not apply to green card holders, and it’s expected the new travel order will stress that point clearly as well. Administration officials are also reportedly working on steps to ensure that the rollout of the new ban is smoother than the last.

The initial travel ban was halted by a federal judge in Washington, and that ruling was upheld by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) issued a statement about the ban on Jan. 30 asserting that while strong airport screening procedures are important, that need should be balanced with the need for policies that facilitate legitimate travel to the U.S. Before the initial ban was blocked, ASAE noted that the order was already beginning to affect international attendance at some upcoming association conferences.

This article was provided to OSAE by The Power of A.