U.S. President Donald Trump was preparing to sign a revised executive order temporarily barring the entry of people from certain Muslim-majority countries, said a senior White House official..
The new order has been in the works since shortly after a federal court blocked Mr. Trump’s initial effort, but the administration has repeatedly pushed back the signing.
Officials have said the new order aims to overcome the legal challenges to the first.
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Its goal will be the same — keep would-be terrorists out of the United States while the government reviews the vetting system for refugees and visa applicants from certain parts of the world.
Mr. Trump’s original orders temporarily blocked citizens of Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya from coming to the United States and put on hold the U.S. refugee program.
The revised order is expected to remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban, following pressure from the Pentagon and State Department, which had urged the White House to reconsider, given Iraq’ key role in fighting the Islamic State (IS) group.
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The new order is also expected to make other changes, including no longer singling out Syrian refugees for an indefinite ban and making clear that all existing visas will be honoured.
Mr. Trump signed his original executive order in late January, sparking confusion and anger as travellers were detained at U.S. airports and barred from boarding flights at foreign airports.
The signing is expected to spark a new round of lawsuits and outrage.