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<\/a>After his first wide-ranging and controversial restrictions were slapped down by the federal courts, Trump signed an order freezing new visas for Syrians, Iranians, Libyans, Somalis, Yemenis and Sudanese citizens.<\/p>\n
The White House said Trump signed the order behind closed doors \u201cthis morning.\u201d The measure is due to come into effect on March 16.<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called the executive order \u201ca vital measure for strengthening our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attorney General Jeff Sessions added at a joint press conference that it \u201cresponsibly provides a needed pause so we can carefully review how we scrutinize people coming here from these countries of concern.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree of these nations are state sponsors of terrorism,\u201d Sessions added, referring to Iran, Sudan and Syria, adding that others had served as \u201csafe havens\u201d for terror operatives.<\/p>\n
The first version temporarily closed US borders to all refugees and to citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries.<\/p>\n
The State Department initially cancelled 60,000 visas, and hundreds of people were reportedly detained at US airports.<\/p>\n
The new order explicitly exempts Iraqis, legal permanent residents and valid visa holders.<\/p>\n
Iraq\u2019s inclusion had risked scuttling cooperation between Baghdad and Washington in fighting the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n
The US and Iraqi militaries are currently fighting side-by-side in northern Iraq, trying to wrest the city of Mosul from jihadist control.<\/p>\n
The Iraqi foreign ministry on Monday expressed its \u201cdeep satisfaction\u201d with the new executive order, and described it as an \u201cimportant step\u201d in strengthening relations between Baghdad and Washington.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Take two \u2013<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s first order had sparked a legal, political and logistical furor.<\/p>\n
There was chaos at major airports and mass protests while several district courts moved to block its implementation and lawmakers expressed opposition.<\/p>\n
The troubled rollout also dominated the first weeks of his administration, leaving many with the impression that it was badly planned and badly implemented.<\/p>\n
Trump has argued that the ban is needed to prevent Islamic State and Al-Qaeda fighters from reaching US soil.<\/p>\n
Polls show that American public opinion is deeply divided on the issue. Most indicate a slight majority of voters opposed, with strong support among Trump\u2019s political base.<\/p>\n
The Republican president criticized a court order suspending the ban as \u201ca very bad decision, very bad for the safety and security of our country. The rollout was perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
He vowed to challenge the matter in the courts, but appears to have eased away from that claim.<\/p>\n
The new order is meant to address complaints raised by the federal judges that parts of the first version were unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
But Democrats and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union again voiced outrage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way to actually\u00a0fix the Muslim ban is not to have a Muslim ban,\u201d said Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU\u2019s Immigrant Rights Project.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead,\u00a0President Trump has recommitted himself to religious discrimination, and\u00a0he can expect continued disapproval from both the courts and the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the measure should be repealed, adding: \u201c\u201dA watered down ban is still a ban.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Travel slump \u2013<\/p>\n
Whatever the legal outcome, Trump\u2019s new ban is likely to polarize opinion further and be immensely popular with his hardcore of supporters.<\/p>\n
The new order is also likely to sow further confusion about US immigration policies.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Nigeria advised its citizens against all but essential travel to the United States, citing the lack of clarity on new immigration rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last few weeks, the office has received a few cases of Nigerians with valid multiple-entry US visas being denied entry and sent back to Nigeria,\u201d said special adviser to the president Abike Dabiri-Erewa.<\/p>\n
According to travel data firm Forwardkeys, travel from the United States to the Middle East has also fallen sharply.<\/p>\n
The firm said round trips to the United Arab Emirates were down 19 percent and trips to Saudi Arabia were down 40 percent in the month following the ban.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince imposition of the travel ban, Middle East markets have been the worst affected, with bookings for departure in the next three months falling 25.4 percent behind the equivalent time last year,\u201d the firm said in a report released Monday.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Roiled by Russia \u2013<\/p>\n
But the ban is likely to help Trump divert attention from rolling crises on his ties with Russia.<\/p>\n
The last week has seen his attorney general recuse himself from election-related investigations, after it emerged he met the Russian ambassador in Washington twice during the campaign.<\/p>\n
It has also seen Trump level unsubstantiated allegations that former president Barack Obama ordered a wiretap on the now president\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n
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\nhttp:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/trump-signs-revised-travel-ban-exempts-iraqis\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67783\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}