Pressing on with an amended version of the much-criticized travel ban now caught up in court, US President Donald Trump will issue a new executive order on immigration by next week.
There were reports earlier this month that Trump might include Southern Philippines in the controversial travel ban in the modified Executive Oder. This was denied by the US Department of Homeland Security at that time.
The US Justice Department lawyers, meanwhile, has asked a federal appeals court to hold off on taking action in the legal battle over his initial travel ban until that new order is in place, the reports said.
The new order would “comprehensively protect our country,” and he hinted that it might contain new vetting measures for travelers, Washington Post quoted Trump as saying.
Trump’s first order temporarily barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees from entering the United States, ostensibly so officials could review and tighten screening procedures, said the news portal.
“Extreme vetting will be put in place, and it already is in place in many places,” Trump reportedly said, adding that the administration “had to go quicker than we thought” because a federal appeals court refused to lift the suspension on his travel ban.
The January 27 order was widely criticized as amounting to simply a ban on Muslims, and also for being rolled out sloppily – with virtually no warning to the public or preparation of the agencies tasked with enforcing it, reported Associated Press.
It reportedly triggered worldwide outrage as well as protests in America and chaos in the first days of its implementation as people arriving at US airports from targeted countries were detained and sometimes sent back to where they came from.
The new order would address complaints from a three-judge panel of the court to the effect that parts of the first order were unconstitutional, the department was quoted as saying.
“Rather than continuing this litigation, the president intends in the near future to rescind the order and replace it with a new, substantially revised executive order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns. In so doing, the president will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation,” the Department stated in the brief.
