Trump to sign new ban
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new travel ban order will temporarily halt entries to the United States for people from six Muslim-majority countries who are seeking new visas.
That’s according to a fact sheet distributed to lawmakers and obtained by The Associated Press.
Trump will sign the order today. The new directive aims to address legal issues that arose from the original order, which was blocked by the courts.
According to the fact sheet, people from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia and Yemen who do not currently have valid visas will be blocked from coming to the U.S. for 90 days.
Iraq was originally included on the list of banned countries. But according to the fact sheet, Iraq was removed from the order after agreeing to increase cooperation with the U.S. government on vetting of its citizens applying for a travel visa.
The administration has repeatedly pushed back the signing as it has worked to better coordinate with the agencies that it will need to implement the ban. The new order has been in the works since shortly after a federal court blocked Trump’s initial effort.
Trump administration officials have said the new order aims to overcome the legal challenges to the first. 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.
Trump’s original orders temporarily blocked citizens of Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya from coming to the United States and put on hold the U.S. refugee program.
