Trump signs new order excluding Iraq from banned countries

President Trump signed a new travel ban today, restricting citizens of six Muslim-majority countries from entering the country for 90 days.

While talking to The News, an official of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim Advocacy group in the country termed the revised order “a Muslim ban”. The ban was eventually blocked by a federal court on 9 February.

But Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he expected the new order to have the same uphill battle in the courts as the original version.

The six countries affected by the 90-travel ban now are Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

“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. The new order also suspends the country’s refugee program for 120 days, but it does not single out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban.

The clause in the original order that indefinitely banned the entry of all Syrian refugees into the USA has been removed.

President Donald Trump signed a revamped version of his botched travel ban on Monday, hoping that tweaks to the executive order will withstand the all-but-certain legal challenges the policy stands to face, according to NBC News. On a call with reporters, officials from the Department of Homeland Security described the order as a temporary suspension of travel to the U.S.by individuals from six countries that are either failed states or “state sponsors of terror”.

To avoid the same chaos, the new order does not apply to green card-holding permanent residents or those who already have valid visas. People who already have visas or who have USA green cards will not be affected, and while the refugee program is suspended, Syrians are no longer barred indefinitely, according to the revised order.

The President was nowhere to be seen at a press briefing explaining the changes – he left it to his Homeland Security Secretary, Secretary of State and Attorney General.

The attorney general said, according to the FBI, that more than 300 people who came to the United States as refugees are under investigation for potential terrorism-related activities.

A DHS statement revealed that the Middle-Eastern country had, in turn, agreed to allow increased USA vetting of its citizens applying for a visa.

“This is a transparent effort to put lipstick on a pig”, said Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program. “It will embolden our enemies, providing a powerful recruiting tool for ISIS to radicalize those already here legally and deter our Muslim allies from working with us to defeat terrorist groups”.

“We can not risk the prospect of malevolent actors using our immigration system to take American lives”, he said.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who was key in striking down the first order in Washington State after his lawsuit was upheld by Judge James Robart, said that his office was carefully reviewing the new order and any impact it would have.

People take part in a rally called “I Am A Muslim Too” in a show of solidarity with American Muslims at Times Square on February 19, 2017 in New York City.

Despite its revisions, the new ban’s continued focus on Muslim-majority countries has drawn instant criticism from Hollywood stars, who took to social media to weigh in.