Trump signs a revised travel ban

Molly Jackson, Staff Writer

On Monday, March 6, President Donald Trump signed a revised executive order which bans immigration from six countries “until the assessment of current screening and vetting procedures required by section 2 of this order is completed.” The six majority-Muslim countries are Iran, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen. The executive order supports this ban by stating that each listed country has been a sponsor of terrorism. In January, President Trump signed a similar ban that included Iraq. Iraq has been exempted from this order because of “the close cooperative relationship between the United States and the democratically elected Iraqi government, the strong United States diplomatic presence in Iraq, the significant presence of United States forces in Iraq, and Iraq’s commitment to combat ISIS.” The previous ban had been overruled by the federal appeals court. This sparked outrage from President Trump as he tweeted, “SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!” The exclusion of Iraq is not the only difference in Trump’s new travel ban. This order becomes effective on March 16, rather than immediately. This is a significant change considering that the previous ban was ruled to have violated due process. Also, the previous ban blocked all immigrants from the designated countries; now, immigrants who were already visa holders as of January 27, 2017 are allowed to enter the United States. However, there are exceptions to this ban as waivers may be permitted on a “case-by-case” basis by a consular officer or the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Similarly, the previous order immediately banned refugees from entering. The current ban will allow entry to refugee applicants who have already been scheduled for transit. The new order has also left out religion-based prioritizing stating “That order was not motivated by animus toward any religion, but was instead intended to protect the ability of religious minorities.”