WASHINGTON — President 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 new order should allow Iraqi translators and other foreign nationals who helped U.S. troops in overseas war zones to travel to America, although much depends on where they are in existing vetting processes.
The revised travel order, which comes six weeks after Trump signed a similar directive that sparked numerous court challenges and nationwide protests, won’t 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’s conservative base and don’t address any real immigration problems.
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.
But three of Trump’s Cabinet members — Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions — appeared in a brief press conference after the signing to defend both the legal basis for the order and the pressing need for action.
"We are not immune to terrorist threats, and our enemies often use our own freedoms in generosity against us," Kelly said. "Today’s executive order … will make America more secure and address long overdue concerns about the security of our immigration system."
Under the new order, foreign nationals from six countries — Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen — will face a 90-day travel ban into the United States. Individuals with valid visas as of last January will be exempt.
Refugees would be banned from entering America for 120 days while a review of the security vetting process is conducted.
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."
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.
Kelly promised that the new ban will be implemented more orderly and clearly than the previous one, rushed out just days after Trump’s inauguration without input from numerous federal agencies.
He also pledged that individuals such as Iraqi translators who have already been interviewed for entry into this country won’t be stopped by border officials. "Nothing in the order effects lawful permanent residents or those with authorization to enter the homeland."
The original ban’s lack of an exclusion for non-citizens who helped U.S. troops during war and the inclusion of Iraq — where several thousand U.S. troops are currently deployed in the fight against Islamic State group militants — riled numerous veterans groups.
Tillerson said a review of Iraqi security systems for foreign travelers prompted removing that country from the banned list.
Whether the new ban sees the same level of opposition remains to be seen. Just moments after Monday’s signing, officials from the left-leaning group VoteVets.org blasted the new travel order as counterproductive to American security.
"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.
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.
Leo Shane III covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He can be reached at lshane@militarytimes.com.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
