US under Trump Series: Modified immigration ban issued

US President Donald Trump has issued another ‘immigration ban’ executive order after the last one, issued within a week in the White House suffered legal hurdles. The new executive order is similar to the last one that suspended immigration from seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa which are predominantly Muslim in their faith and part of war-torn regions in the area, except for some stark differences.

• The new order formally revokes and replaces the previous order. The order was revealed by the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions, and Secretary Kelly.
• The new order includes six countries; Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia. The immigration ban is initiated for 90 days.
• Paragraph ‘g’ of the executive order, which is available here, https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/06/executive-order-protecting-nation-foreign-terrorist-entry-united-states cited Iraq as a special case and cited Iraq’s commitment in fighting the terrorist group known as the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). Iraq’s close cooperation and diplomatic relations were cited and the country was exempted in the new order.
• The order suspends the United States Refugee Admission Program (USRAP) for 120 days.
• The order also caps the numbers of refugee admissions to the United States at 50,000 for the year 2017.
• The order also provides protections to legal permanent residents, diplomatic visa holders, and other legal document holders from this ban; something that was absent in the previous order.

However, the improved legal status of the new modified order is unlikely to stop anti-Trump supporters and the Democratic party leaders from trying to pose legal challenges.