President Donald Trump’s new travel ban will exclude legal permanent residents and existing visa holders from the ban entirely, sources familiar with the plans tell CNN.
The ban will differ in several significant ways from the first executive order — which has been temporarily blocked for over three weeks by federal courts — sources say. It is expected as soon as Wednesday.
While sources caution that the document has not yet been finalized and is still subject to change, the major changes are as follows:
· The new executive order will make clear that legal permanent residents (otherwise known as green card holders) are excluded from any travel ban.
· Those with validly issued visas will also be exempt from the ban.
· The new order is expected to revise or exclude language prioritizing the refugee claims of certain religious minorities.
Speaking in Munich, Germany, earlier this month, Homeland Secretary John Kelly promised a “phased-in” approach to minimize disruption this time around.
But what remains to be seen are the other key aspects of the new executive order, especially in terms of refugees, including:
· What happens to the suspension of the refugee program for 120 days?
· Are Syrian nationals still barred indefinitely?
· Has the cap on the number of refugees changed? (The current version of the executive order caps it at 50,000 for fiscal year 2017.)
Two sources also expect that the President will formally revoke the previous executive order, despite repeated statements from White House press secretary Sean Spicer that the two orders would co-exist on a “dual track.”
The administration could potentially argue that the existing challenges to the original executive order are moot, but the challengers tell CNN the legal battles will likely continue even after the new order is signed.
“Exempting lawful permanent residents and current visa holders will not cure the core legal problem — that the ban was motivated by religious discrimination, as evidenced by the President’s repeated statements calling for a Muslim ban,” ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt explained. “That discriminatory taint cannot be removed simply by eliminating a few words or clever tinkering by lawyers.”