New Immigration Ban Rolls Back Restrictions On Iraqis, Syrians

The Trump administration announced a revised immigration ban Monday to replace its previous executive order that was suspended by the courts. The first order, which banned immigration to the U.S. by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, quickly drew criticism and protests while causing chaos at airports as soon as it was implemented.

The new order officially revokes the first, though the administration continues to insist that it was legally sound.

The new ban does not include Iraq in the list of targeted countries. Citizens from Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen will still be barred from coming to the United States for 90 days.

Syrian refugees, who were indefinitely refused entry under the initial executive order, will now be treated the same as all other refugees. The new order will pause all refugee admissions for 120 days.

The order also directs Homeland Security and the Justice Department to release public data on crimes committed in the U.S. by citizens of other countries, including "information regarding the number and types of acts of gender-based violence against women, including so-called 'honor killings,' in the United States by foreign nationals."

It also provides an defense of the first executive order, which many criticized as a "Muslim ban," which President Trump had campaigned on. The text says the first ban "did not provide a basis for discriminating for or against members of any particular religion."

It continues: "That order was not motivated by animus toward any religion, but was instead intended to protect the ability of religious minorities -- whoever they are and wherever they reside."

Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions discussed the new order on live TV Monday morning.

The officials refused to answer questions after they gave their prepared statements. One reported asked whether the new order was an admission that the rollout of the first order was handled badly, but she received no response.

In his statement, Tillerson called the order "a vital measure for protecting the country."

Sessions said, "This executive order seeks to protect the American people as well as lawful immigrants."

This time, the executive order will not apply to lawful permanent residents or people who have already received visas as the initial order did. The first order was not clear on the status of these individuals. The White House gave contradictory guidance about whether or not green card holders would face new restrictions, which became a key focus of the legal challenges to the order.

The rollout of this executive order stands in marked contrast to the first. The president signed the order in private, and only later released this photo to the press:

By asking three of his Cabinet appointees to jointly announce the new order, the White House sent the signal that their departments all had the opportunity to weigh in on the policy. This interdepartmental buy-in was rumored to be lacking for the first order. The details of the new policy were given to the press before the announcement.

The administration will also delay implementation of the new order for 10 days; it is effective beginning March 16. After the initial rollout led to confusion across the country's airports and abroad, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that delaying implementation would allow dangerous people to avoid the order's restrictions.

"We could have either telegraphed [the executive order] days in advance, in which people could have gotten on planes and come over here, which would have undermined the exact nature of what this sought to prevent," he said. "Or we could have done it in a way that inconvenienced some folks for a little while."

PTrump tweeted a similar sentiment on Jan. 30: "If the ban were announced with one week notice, the 'bad' would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad 'dudes' out there!"

Senior adviser to the president Stephen Miller said Feb. 21 on Fox News that the new executive order would "have the same basic policy outcome" as the first directive.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman indicated he may challenge the new order.

"While the White HOuse may have made changes to the ban, the intent to discriminate against Muslims remains clear," he said in a statement. "My office is closely reviewing the new executive order, and I stand ready to litigate -- again -- in order to protect New York's families institutions and economy."

Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, released a statement criticizing the new order.

"Following a series of defeats in court for his first un-American Muslim ban, President Trump is attempting to revise his unconstitutional policy," Cummings said. "But the American people should not be fooled by the President’s second attempt: his policy still bans immigrants only from Muslim-majority countries, it still cruelly blocks refugees, it is still un-American, and it still will harm American national security interests more than help them.”

Bernie Sanders also denounce the revised ban on Twitter. "This isn’t about keeping America safe. Let’s call it what it is," he wrote. "This ban is a racist and anti-Islamic attempt to divide us up."

According to the Washington Post, Iraqi officials called the new ban an "important step in the right direction."

Release of the revised order had been delayed multiple times. The White House declined to comment when asked about the cause of these delays.

Watch replay of the announcement below:

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images