Saturday February 18, 2017
President Donald Trump signs first executive orders in Oval Office in Washington, January 20, 2017. REUTERS
MUNICH // A new version of a Trump administration travel ban will not stop green card residency holders or travellers already on planes from entering the United States, US secretary for homeland security John Kelly said on Saturday.
Donald Trump’s initial attempt to clamp down for security reasons on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and on refugees snarled to a halt amid a judicial backlash and chaos at airports.
"The president is contemplating releasing a tighter, more streamlined version of the first [order]. And I will have opportunity to work [on] a rollout plan, in particular to make sure that there’s no one in a sense caught in the system of moving from overseas to our airports," Mr Kelly said at the Munich Security Conference.
He promised "a short phase-in period to make sure that people on the other end don’t get on airplanes. But if they’re on an airplane and inbound, they’ll be allowed to enter the country."
Mr Trump’s original order, which he said was meant to head off attacks by extremists, barred people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering for 90 days and excluded all refugees for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely.