Trump's new travel ban order published
By Kamila Aliyeva
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a revised executive order that restricts travel to the U.S. for people from six Muslim majority countries dropping Iraq from previous order's list issued in January and reinstates a temporary blanket ban on all refugees.
The president quietly signed the order away from the presence of cameras or the press, in contrast with the original travel ban’s signing ceremony at the Department of Defense in January 2017.
The new ban, which revises a previous order issued on January 27 that caused confusion at airports, sparked protests around the country, instant chaos and was eventually blocked by federal judges, marked a significant retreat for Trump and his administration’s vigorous defense of the original travel ban.
At first, Trump publicly criticized judges who ruled against him and vowed to fight the case in the Supreme Court but then decided to draw up a new order with changes aimed at making it easier to defend in the courts.
The new order is said to be narrower and specifies that a 90-day ban on citizens from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia and Yemen does not apply to those who already have valid visas.
The order also suspends admission of refugees into the U.S. for 120 days, directing U.S. officials to improve vetting measures for a program that is already widely regarded as extremely strict. It will enter into force on March 16, 2017.
The White House dropped Iraq from the list of banned countries as well. This was done amid pressure from the Pentagon, which was displeased with the fact that it undermined relations with a country with which the U.S. is currently engaged in the fight against ISIS.
Furthermore, a number of Iraqi people who had worked for the U.S. military in roles such as translators were caught up in the ban and detained at U.S. airports.
The new order does not prioritize religious minorities when considering refugee admissions cases in contrast with the previous one. Previously, it drew criticism of a religious test for entry and would have prioritized Christians over Muslims fleeing war-torn countries in the Middle East.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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