Approximately 3,000 people from the seven countries listed in President Donald Trump’s travel ban were allowed to enter the US between February 4 and February 6, according to figures provided Saturday by the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump signed an executive order last month barring foreign nationals from Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days, all refugees for 120 days, and all refugees from Syria indefinitely.
But a federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Trump’s travel ban will remain blocked after an earlier court raised concerns about the constitutionality of the ban among other things.
The unanimous ruling from the three-judge panel means citizens of the seven majority-Muslim countries were able to travel to the US, despite Trump’s executive order.
The 3,000 number does not include lawful-permanent-residents because they are not within the scope of Trump’s executive order, DHS spokeswoman Gillian Christensen told CNN.
During the same period in 2016, 1,817 from the seven impacted countries were admitted to the US.
The White House announced Friday that they will not immediately appeal the decision to the Supreme Court and are working on “possible tweaks” to the executive order.
The President is currently examining several options to save the ban and is expected to introduce the changes next week.
