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U.S. President Trump to issue new executive order on immigration

Xinhua, February 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will rescind his controversial executive order temporarily barring entry to refugees and immigrants and replace it with a new one next week.

"The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," said Trump during a news conference in the White House, referring to a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that blocked his travel ban earlier this month.

The travel ban is aimed at what the president said to keep out "radical Islamic terrorists."

"We are issuing a new executive action next week that will comprehensively protect our country," Trump said.

Also on Thursday, the Department of Justice asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals not to review a decision by a three-judge panel to keep the immigration policy on hold while it moves through the legal system, citing plans to soon replace the order with a "superseding" one.

"Rather than continuing this litigation, the president intends in the near future to rescind the order and replace it with a new, substantially revised Executive Order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns," the department said in a document to the court of appeals.

"In so doing, the president will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation," it said.

On Feb. 9, three judges sitting on the motions panel of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, wrote unanimously at the end of the ruling: "the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal is DENIED."

The motion, by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, was to overrule a temporary restraining order (TRO) imposed by a lower court judge against the travel ban.

In response at the time, Trump tweeted "SEE YOU IN COURT," vowing to win the legal battle in the end, while accusing the court of appeals of making a "political decision."

Trump signed the controversial executive order on Jan. 27, which temporarily bars U.S. entry to all refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The travel ban almost immediately sparked nationwide protests and worldwide criticism. Endit