President Trump’s new immigration ban to spare green card holders
20 Feb 2017
US President Donald Trump's new executive order banning entry of immigrants to the United States will not include people who are green card residency holders, irrespective of their nationality and religion, say reports.
US secretary for homeland security John Kelly is reported to have made the announcement while in Germany for the 53rd session of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
''I will tell you that we are contemplating, the president is contemplating releasing a tighter, more streamlined version of the first EO. And we will have this time opportunity; I will have opportunity, to work the roll-out plan.
The move comes after widespread opposition to Trump's first executive order which selectively banned entry of people from seven Muslim-majority countries, which was struck down by the federal court.
Kelly said the new order will take care that persons already in the act of moving from another country to the United States will not face any problem. The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security said green card residency holders or travellers already on planes will not be blocked.
''As far as the visas go, again, if they're in motion from some distant land to the United States, when they arrive they will be allowed in. That said, we will have a short phase-in period to make sure that people on the other end don't get on airplanes. But if they're on an airplane and inbound they will be allowed to enter the country."
Trump's earlier order imposing a 90-day entry ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia, and blocking refugees from Syria indefinitely while suspending all refugee admissions for 120 days, was blocked by a federal judge (See: US judge puts Trump's visa ban on hold after states' challenge). Trump's executive order had triggered outrage across the United States and around the world, leading to massive protests against the new administration.
A Wall Street Journal report citing a draft of the replacement executive order said the administration aims to put restrictions on citizens of the same seven Muslim-majority countries covered by the earlier order and that the replacement order could be issued as early as Tuesday.