President Trump signed a new Executive Order (EO) on Tuesday, the same day as the last travel ban’s provision against refugee admissions was due to expire. The EO allows refugees to travel into the U.S. and the Department of Homeland Security to process refugee applications. The Trump Administration had previously blocked refugee travel through an EO issued on March 6, 2017, (“Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”) which directed a review to strengthen the vetting process for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). A working group was established for this purpose which resulted in the implementation of improvements and enhancements to the process for screening and vetting refugees. Although the USRAP is allowed to resume, the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and the Office of Director of National Intelligence determined that refugee admissions of 11 unnamed nationalities previously identified as potentially posing a higher risk to the United States will be processed with additional review on a case by case basis within a new 90 day review period and additional security measures will be implemented for following-to-join refugees of all nationalities that have already been resettled in the United States. Admissions of following-to-join refugees will resume once those enhancements have been implemented.
For more information on the Trump Administration’s travel bans please click here.