Today, President Trump signed a new executive order that affects individuals from six predominantly Muslim countries as well as refugees from around the world. An earlier travel ban from the Trump administration was blocked by a federal court.
The new executive order has dropped Iraq from the list of targeted countries, but prevents immigration from the six other countries previously cited in the first ban—Syria, Libya,Yemen Somalia, Iran and Sudan. In the new travel ban, lawful permanent residents who are green card holders or have already been granted asylum or refugee status are still able to travel to the U.S. However, new visas will not be issued for 90 days to anyone from the countries on the list.
The executive order completely suspends the nation’s refugee resettlement program for the period of 120 days, and will cut the number of refugees eventually allowed into the country every year by more than half. The new order goes into effect later this month.
President Trump has previously said that he plans on instituting new “extreme vetting” measures for refugees, despite the fact that the multi-step process already involves several federal and international agencies and can take up to three years.
