Trump to sign new ban
WASHINGTON. — President Donald Trump is expected to sign today a new executive order on his controversial travel ban at the Department of Homeland Security, according to senior government officials familiar with the matter.
It is unclear how significant the changes to the current order will be or whether the White House will continue a court fight over its old order.
The original order restrained immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, temporarily halted the entry of refugees and indefinitely shut down the entrance of refugees from Syria.
The administration’s first executive order was frozen by judges and has proven one of the biggest embarrassments for a nascent administration. It caused widespread chaos at airports, as enforcement agents, lawmakers and some of Trump’s top aides were not briefed on the order.
The new order has been rumoured for several weeks, but was postponed from Wednes- day after the president’s widely-praised speech to Congress. Trump’s team is said to have wanted to keep the momentum going from the address.
But after a series of aggressive tweets from the president on Saturday morning, in which he accused former president Barack Obama of tapping his phone at Trump Tower before the election, the executive order could prove welcome for his supporters. —