President Trump signed a new executive order on Monday to replace a previous order that restricted travel into the United States from several foreign countries. The new order maintains the restriction from six of the seven countries in the original one—Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—while removing the restriction on travel from Iraq.
“Iraq presents a special case,” the new order reads. “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 justify different treatment for Iraq.” Since the original directive was issued, the new order continues, “the Iraqi government has expressly undertaken steps to enhance travel documentation, information sharing, and the return of Iraqi nationals subject to final orders of removal.”
The new order will go into effect on March 16. President Trump will be revoking the original order, which became tied up in court soon after its issuance on January 27.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, issued a statement about the order. “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,” Kelly said, in part. “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 apparent cooperation of the relevant parts of Trump’s cabinet in the drafting and roll-out of the order stands in stark contrast to the original order, which the Homeland Security secretary was not briefed in full on until after that order was issued. In addition to Kelly, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was among those who were consulted about the order, including at a Saturday dinner with the president at Mar-a-Lago.
