Trump signs new executive order restricting travel

Green card holders and current visa holders exempt; Iraq exempted altogether

By Tatiana Prophet
Editor-in-chief

President Donald Trump signed a new executive order temporarily suspending the admission of refugees for 120 days, as well as unauthorized travel from six countries deemed unable to guarantee the identity of travelers who originated in their nations.

“The Executive Order signed today is prospective in nature—applying only to foreign nationals outside of the United States who do not have a valid visa," stated Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly in a press release. "It is important to note that nothing in this executive order affects current lawful permanent residents or persons with current authorization to enter our country. If you have a current valid visa to travel, we welcome you. But unregulated, unvetted travel is not a universal privilege, especially when national security is at stake."

The order quotes a 2015 State Department report on terrorism describing the following conditions: Syria, Sudan and Iran are designated as state sponsors of terrorism, while others are described as safe havens for terrorism, such as Sudan, or as sites of ongoing conflict, such as Yemen and Syria, and even an active combat zone, such as Libya. And in Libya and Somalia, security and law enforcement are sometimes run by militias and not the government. For all these reasons, Trump is quoted in the order as saying he wants to examine travel between those countries and the United States.

"In light of the conditions in these six countries, until the assessment of current screening and vetting procedures required by section 2 of this order is completed, the risk of erroneously permitting entry of a national of one of these countries who intends to commit terrorist acts or otherwise harm the national security of the United States is unacceptably high.  Accordingly, while that assessment is ongoing, I am imposing a temporary pause on the entry of nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, subject to categorical exceptions and case-by-case waivers, as described in section 3 of this order."

Iraq deserves to be treated differently, the order states, in light 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."

You can read the full executive order here:
Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States

Related link:
A blog post by an Iraqi who visited the U.S. in 2008