Update on the January 27th Executive Order

January 29, 2017 (10:15 PM PST)

At 4:42 PM EST on January 27, 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO): "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States."

This EO prohibits citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the US for 90 days, even if they are U.S. Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs/green card holders).  It also bars all refugee admissions for 120 days and indefinitely bars Syrian refugees from entering the US.

After the order was signed, travelers have been stopped at airports in the US and abroad. The EO has prompted protests at many U.S. airports and the White House, and has led to legal action.

Here is the latest on this evolving situation:

1. On Saturday night, 1/28/17, a federal judge in New York issued the first order, granting a nationwide stay of removal preventing deportation of individuals with valid visas and approved refugee applications affected by the EO. The ruling stopped short of letting them into the country or issuing a broader ruling on the constitutionality of the EO.
2. Federal judges in Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington issued similar rulings to stop the government from removing refugees and others with valid visas. The judge in Massachusetts went a bit further and barred federal officials from detaining or removing individuals subject to the EO. The judge in Virginia ordered federal officials to provide lawyers access to "all LPRs being detained at Dulles International Airport" and barred officials from deporting covered individuals for the next seven days.
3. On Sunday morning, 1/29/17, the Department of Homeland Security indicated it would comply with the rulings while it continued to enforce the EO. See: DHS Response to Litigation
4. Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, said on Sunday, 1/29/17, that green card holders from the seven banned countries would NOT be prevented from returning to the US “going forward” which is a reversal. However, Mr. Priebus also stated that CBP agents had “discretionary authority” to subject any travelers, including US citizens, to additional questioning and scrutiny if they had been to any of the seven countries.
5. Secretary Kelly of the Department of Homeland Security released a press statement Sunday evening, 1/29/17, clarifying how the EO applies to LPRs: "I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest."
6. Locally, at SFO, LPRs who are citizens of the seven affected countries are being put through secondary inspection and being admitted in about two hours.