Trump Signs New Travel Ban Against Six Nations, Iraq Not on List

The original order temporarily barred people from seven Muslim-majority countries from traveling to US for 90 days.

The original order temporarily barred people from seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – from traveling to the United States for 90 days. (Photo: The Quint)

US President Donald Trump has signed a revised executive order that now targets immigrants from six Muslim-majority nations. The revised travel order leaves Iraq off the list of banned countries, but still affects would-be visitors from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya.

The revised order is narrower and specifies that a 90-day ban on people from the six countries does not apply to those who already have valid visas or people with US green cards.

The White House dropped Iraq from the list of targeted countries following pressure from the Pentagon and State Department, which had urged the White House to reconsider, given Iraq's key role in fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group.

Syrian nationals are also no longer subjected to an indefinite ban, despite Trump's insistence as a candidate that Syrian refugees, in particular, posed a serious security threat to the United States.

The travel ban will last for 90 days and will reportedly come into effect on 16 March.

The original order, which immediately sparked off protests and panic at airports, was halted after two judicial setbacks – a nationwide freeze on Trump's ban by a US district judge in Seattle and a subsequent ruling by San Francisco's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the suspension.

(With inputs from AP and NBC News)