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Posted: 2017-03-06 23:19:18

Updated March 07, 2017 11:00:30

The key difference in the Trump administration's new travel ban is that Iraq is no longer on the list.

How did Iraq get struck off?

Remember the rationale for the original ban was that the US can't properly vet people coming from these countries: America doesn't trust the information it's being given by those foreign countries.

The Secretary of State says his department and the Iraqi Government have spent the past month working together on more thorough vetting processes.

The White House says that could include things like biometrics and updated lists on people who are suspected of terror links.

But there could be more to it — Donald Trump was widely criticised for including Iraq in the first order as Baghdad is a key ally in the fight against Islamic State, and Washington needs to keep the government there onside.

What does the new order entail?

Under the new order citizens from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen are once again barred from entering the US for 90 days. This time though those who already have a valid visa will be allowed in.

The new order still suspends America's refugee program for 120 days but refugees who had been scheduled to travel to the US but have not yet arrived will be allowed in.

The US will also be reducing its 2017 refugee intake from 110,000 to 50,000.

This order also grants something the last one didn't: time.

The first order came into effect immediately causing chaos and confusion in the US and across the world. This one won't come into effect for 10 days, giving travellers and affected stakeholders time to prepare.

Will it hit the same legal roadblocks?

Critics have already slammed this new order as a "Muslim Ban 2.0" and the likelihood of a court challenge is high, however the Trump administration believes this order is on much more solid legal footing that the last.

While the substance of the new order is very similar to the original the optics around today's announcement couldn't have been more different.

The President was nowhere to be seen at a press briefing explaining the changes — he left it to his Homeland Security Secretary, Secretary of State and Attorney General.

They didn't take questions, but say they've spent hours behind the scenes briefing the media and members of Congress about the new order.

From the White House, Press Secretary Sean Spicer tweeted a photo of the President sitting alone at his desk signing the order. The President himself has remained mum.

As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, this time around "there should be no surprises".

Topics: donald-trump, world-politics, immigration, united-states, syrian-arab-republic, sudan, somalia, libyan-arab-jamahiriya, yemen, iraq

First posted March 07, 2017 10:19:18

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