Amended US ‘Muslim ban’ to come into effect

President Trump on Monday signed a revised executive order suspending the refugee program and entry to the USA for travelers from several mostly Muslim countries, curtailing what was a broadly worded directive in a bid to withstand court scrutiny.

Donald Trump has signed a new executive order banning people from six Muslim countries.

Visitors and would-be immigrants from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya are still banned under the order. The ban will be enacted in ten days.

The executive action will also ban travelers from six countries – Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen – from entering the USA for 90 days.

“Each of these countries is a state sponsor of terrorism, has been significantly compromised by terrorist organizations, or contains active conflict zones”, the order said.

Syrians will be treated the same as other refugees The initial travel ban included language that suspended immigration from Syria indefinitely. It won’t put people now in the USA who are planning to travel overseas at risk of being unable to return home at the end of the trip. Its goal will be the same: keep would-be terrorists out of the United States while the government reviews the vetting system for refugees and visa applicants from certain parts of the world. In addition to the travel ban, the U.S. president has also shut down the United States refugee programe.

Trump privately signed the new order today, while Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions formally unveiled it.

In addition, the new order blocks all refugees from entering the US for 120 days.

The DHS said that the USA had “the world’s most generous immigration system” which had been “repeatedly exploited by terrorists and other malicious actors who seek to do us harm”. Furthermore, it appears that people who haven’t yet come to the USA but who have been issued visas already will still be allowed to enter. The order now permits dual citizens of those six countries to enter if they are traveling on a passport from a country that is not banned.

The new ban goes into effect March 16. Protests broke out in several U.S. cities and thousands of people demonstrated at many airports.

Mr Trump’s previous order affecting citizens of seven mainly-Muslim countries was overturned by United States courts.

The new order was signed in observation of court rulings and to avoid further litigation, the order said. “The rollout was ideal”.

Could this new order be challenged in the law courts?

Iraq has agreed to timely return and repatriation of its nationals who are subject to removal.

“Iraq is treated differently under this executive order”, said a senior administration official who is knowledgeable about the order but not authorized to speak publicly as a matter of practice.

Citizens with visas from the six countries listed in the order will not be affected by it and no visas will be revoked exclusively because of the order. The original order stated that “the entry of more than 50,000 refugees in fiscal year 2017 would be detrimental” to the US.

Homeland Security Secy. Kelly concluded the news conference by saying that 9/11 “taught us that we could not take our nation’s security for granted”.