On January 27th of 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed an order that would suspend entry for any refugees that are trying to enter the United States for 90 days for nationals of Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen. President Trump said he made this decision in order to keep Americans safe from terrorism. Critics call it a “Muslim ban” but President Trump has strictly denied the name. The executive order restrictions did not apply to people with lawful permanent residence, generally referred to as green card holders. The result of this ban caused a lot of confusion in many important airports, such as JFK (John F. Kennedy). “In New York, two Iraqi nationals sued the federal government after they were detained at JFK and 10 others were detained as well.” There have been many protests around the the United States in places such as New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Phoenix, and Detroit. According to the New York Times, n Dallas, “Hundreds of protesters at a Dallas Fort Worth international airport terminal passed around around pizza and cookies, while children bent over posters boards and markers on the floor, making signs. Lawyers said that nine people from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and Syria were still detained at midday, and those that were being held had immigrant or tourist visas.”

A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked the order for citizens of seven Muslim majority countries who have already arrived in the US, those who are in transit,  and those who hold valid visas, ruling they cannot be removed from the US. The Judge stopped President Trump’s executive order barring citizens from those countries from entering the US for 90 days.

On Monday, March 6th, President Donald J. Trump signed a new executive order removing one of the countries. Iraq was previously listed among the nations that were listed. The reason Iraq was removed from the list is because the Iraqi government has increased sharing information with the United States government. The revised order still seeks to to curb the number of refugees allowed into the United States, allowing no more than 50,000 in 2017. However, it no longer places a ban on Syrian refugees trying to enter the United States. Instead, refugees, including those from Syria, will be subjected to a 120 day suspension of the refugee program. As expected, his executive order has caused a huge controversy, with some supporting and others criticizing the order. What happens next? Only time will tell.

* photo via Google Images under the Creative Commons license