According to Fox News, President Trump is likely to sign a new and altered executive order banning entry into the United States for residents of certain Middle Eastern countries. The network spoke to an unnamed senior White House official who confirmed that a new order was on the way “as early as Monday or Tuesday.” They did not specify, however, how the new travel ban would differ from the original version.
President Trump decided last month not to challenge court rulings that blocked his first executive order from being implemented. Instead, the White House rescinded the order and promised that a new one would soon follow.
The first travel ban targeted visitors, immigrants, and refugees from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Libya, and Sudan. But Washington State lawyers successfully challenged the order in court, bringing it to an end well short of its 90-day timespan. In a press conference, President Trump said the revised order was being written with the court’s opinions in mind.
Reportedly, the new executive order will have an exemption for legal permanent residents and visa holders. There are also reports that say the refugee ban will no longer include a clause providing exceptions for persecuted Christians. Most likely, it will also remove Iraq from the list of targeted countries, a move supported by many in the president’s administration, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Of course, no matter how relatively-timid or how carefully constructed the new ban is, it will not escape intense legal scrutiny. Democrats see this ban as one of several symbolic Trump efforts that they cannot afford to let stand. As long as it bears the slightest resemblance to the original order, they are going to fight it with everything they have. This is a political fundraising event, as far as they’re concerned, and they’ve stocked the courts with enough liberal activists to keep it held in stasis for the rest of the year.
The only way that changes is if public opinion starts turning on the Democrats in a major way, which is exactly what will happen when the next lunatic Islamic savage goes on a killing spree and Americans remember – again – that this is not a theoretical threat to the nation. This is a war, the enemy is known, and the battlefield is…everywhere. Is there any way to win it, totally and completely? Perhaps not, but we certainly don’t have to keep learning the same lessons over and over again.
