WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Donald Trump’s new executive order on immigration won’t block Iraqis from traveling to the United States but still blocks foreign nationals from six other Middle Eastern and African countries from entering American soil.
The revised travel order, which comes six weeks after Trump signed a similar directive that sparked numerous court challenges and nationwide protests, won\u2019t go into effect until March 16. And it still may face legal opposition from human rights groups who say the actions are designed to appeal to Trump\u2019s conservative base and don\u2019t address any real immigration problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The president signed the statement without fanfare Monday morning, in contrast to the on-camera event he held Jan. 27 for the original travel ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
But three of Trump\u2019s Cabinet members\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions\u00a0\u2014\u00a0appeared in a brief press conference after the signing to defend both the legal basis for the order and the pressing need for action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are not immune to terrorist threats, and our enemies often use our own freedoms in generosity against us,” Kelly said. “Today\u2019s executive order \u2026 will make America more secure and address long overdue concerns about the security of our immigration system.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the new order, foreign nationals from six countries\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen\u00a0\u2014\u00a0will face a 90-day travel ban into the United States. Individuals with valid visas as of last January will be exempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Refugees would be banned from entering America for 120 days while a review of the security vetting process is conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Tillerson called the move “part of our ongoing efforts to eliminate vulnerabilities that radical Islamic terrorists can and will exploit for destructive ends.” Sessions said FBI officials are monitoring at least 300 refugees in the United States for potential ties to terrorism, and that officials “know that many people trying to commit terrorist attacks are looking at refugee program.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The order also includes a mandate that the State Department publish the number of visas issued to foreign nationals each month, in the interest of better transparency on the rate of immigration into America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kelly promised that the new ban will be implemented more orderly and clearly than the previous one, rushed out just days after Trump\u2019s inauguration without input from numerous federal agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also pledged that individuals such as Iraqi translators who have already been interviewed for entry into this country won\u2019t be stopped by border officials. “Nothing in the order effects lawful permanent residents or those with authorization to enter the homeland.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The original ban\u2019s lack of an exclusion for non-citizens who helped U.S. troops during war and the inclusion of Iraq\u00a0\u2014\u00a0where several thousand U.S. troops are currently deployed in the fight against Islamic State group militants\u00a0\u2014\u00a0riled numerous veterans groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Tillerson said a review of Iraqi security systems for foreign travelers prompted removing that country from the banned list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether the new ban sees the same level of opposition remains to be seen. Just moments after Monday\u2019s signing, officials from the left-leaning group VoteVets.org blasted the new travel order as counterproductive to American security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This misguided executive order undermines the work our troops are currently doing to defeat ISIS, and endangering their lives by once again sending the message that this is a war against Islam, particularly Muslims from the Middle East,” group Director of Government Relations Will Fischer said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officials from the American Civil Liberties Union, who referred to the first order as “a Muslim ban,” called the new one “a scaled-back version that shares the same fatal flaws.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations has similarly opposed the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n