Everything You Need To Know About President Trump’s New Travel Ban
The President’s previous “Muslim ban” drew legal challenges as well as criticism from political opponents, civil libertarians, and a few multinational corporations. Will this one pass the smell test?
Earlier today, President Trump signed a new executive order limiting travel from six majority-Muslim nations. It's a refinement of the controversial travel ban the president signed in January, addressing some of the criticisms lodged against the original order while adding specifics to the order's national security rationale.
The new executive order imposes a 90-day ban on new U.S. visas for citizens of Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and Sudan, and it suspends the nation’s refugee program for 120 days, capping refugee intake at 50,000 in a year (down from the 110,000 cap previously set by the Obama administration). It also removes Iraq from the list of origin countries affected—a move favored by the Pentagon and State Department.
The previous order, which prevented immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S., drew legal challenges as well as criticism from some multinational corporations for causing personnel glitches. (General Motors, for one, vowed to assist employees who found themselves in travel limbo.)
But it was the legal challenge, in particular, that sent Mr. Trump and his policy team back to the drawing board. The original travel ban was kiboshed by a federal district judge in Washington state in February, and a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld that ruling.
Here’s what we know about the new executive order signed today.