President Donald Trump has signed a revised executive order that bans the issuance of new visas for citizens of six Muslim-majority nations for 90 days. The revised order, however, does not include Iraq due to ongoing efforts against the Islamic State Group.
The Washington Post reported that the executive order will take effect Mar. 16. Trump administration's earlier travel order, implemented during his first week in office without the consent of Congress, Cabinet officials, the courts and others in government, caused a major uproar in the United States.
The new version narrows the previous executive order, imposing a 90-day halt on entry from people from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia and Yemen unless they already have valid visas. The new order does not contain the same language that gives priority to religious minorities that critics acclaimed was there to help Christians get into the country while excluding Muslims.
The new executive order also grants exceptions for legal permanent residents of the United States; individuals who have been granted asylum or refugee status; and dual nationals who use a passport from another country. But it suspends the acceptance of refugees for 120 days, though refugees already vetted and scheduled by the State Department will be permitted.
According to ABA Journal, the revised executive order does not address all concerns raised by the courts. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has said that exempting individuals with green cards and visas from an order wouldn't address their concerns about U.S. citizens with an interest in noncitizens travel.
The revised executive order has already received opposition from many. The American Civil Liberties Union said Monday it would move quickly to prevent the new travel order from taking effect as it does not "eliminate the basic constitutional problem seen in the first executive order, which is discrimination on the basis of religion."
