03/02/2017

White House Still Tweaking Revised Travel Ban

The new version is expected to be more concise than its derailed predecessor

President Trump’s new executive order on travel and immigration will reportedly include some significant changes to allay some of the legal issues that derailed the first travel ban.

Now frozen by the courts, Trump’s original order temporarily banned travelers from seven mostly-Muslim countries from entering the U.S. and suspended all refugee admissions for 120 days. When it was signed in January, the order 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; it is expected the new travel order will stress that point clearly, as well. Administration officials are also working on steps to ensure that the roll-out of the new ban is smoother than the last.

In addition to exempting current visa holders and legal permanent residents of the U.S., it is expected that the new order will not include a blanket ban on citizens from Iraq. It is presumed that the six other countries on the original order will remain banned: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The revised order also will not include any explicit exceptions for religious minorities in the countries identified in the travel ban. Critics of the original ban accused the White House of trying to help Christians get into the U.S. while excluding Muslims.

Trump was scheduled to sign the new executive order this week but a White House official told CNN this week that the administration wants the new order to “have its own moment.” It remains unclear when the White House will roll out the new order.

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