Trump releases his new travel ban order
NEW YORK // Immigrant groups, state attorneys general and civil rights bodies are set to launch fresh legal challenges after Donald Trump launched his revised travel ban yesterday.
The ban temporarily halts entry to the US for people from six Muslim-majority nations who are seeking new visas.
Iraq is no longer included in the ban after American politicians said it punished Iraqis who worked for the US armed forces and risked alienating a key ally in the fight against ISIL.
After the first ban was overturned by a string of a law suits, president Donald Trump revoked it.
The new order has softened language, introduced exemptions and provided more warning to head off opposition.
Green card holders and others with existing visas will not be affected when the ban comes into force on March 16. The country’s refugee programme will still be suspended for 120 days, but Syrians seeking refuge will no longer be subjected to a separate, indefinite halt.
The order also allows entry to those whose visas were revoked as a result of the first travel ban on January 27.
Despite these changes, critics said the new executive order contained the same fundamental problems.
“The only way to actually fix the Muslim ban is not to have a Muslim ban,” said Omar Jadwat, a senior attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.
“Instead, president Trump has recommitted himself to religious discrimination, and he can expect continued disapproval from both the courts and the people.” The New York attorney gen- eral immediately announced he was scrutinising the order and was ready to launch a challenge.
The Yale Law School Clinic, which brought the first case against the original order, said: “The new executive order may use new lawyerly language, but it is animated by the same discriminatory intent.”
The order keeps a 90-day ban on travel to the US by citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
It also states that tens of thousands of legal permanent residents in the US, and green-card holders, will not be affected. And this time around, Mr Trump did not hold a public signing ceremony. The order was presented by three cabinet secretaries.
Attorney general Jeff Sessions said the new order would provide enhanced security.
“In fact today more than 300 people, according to the FBI, who came here as refugees are under an FBI investigation today for potential terrorism related activities,” he said.
The original order imposed travel restrictions with immediate effect. Passengers already in the air with valid visas or legal residents of the US returning from abroad were detained on arrival. Many were deported.
The ban began to unravel immediately as judges across the country unpicked its provisions. Mr Trump’s new order acknowledged the legal challenges to the first travel ban, saying “to avoid spending additional time pursuing litigation, I am revoking Executive Order 13769 and replacing it with this order”.
The Iraqi foreign ministry expressed “deep relief” at being excluded from the travel ban.
“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 ministry said.