By JACQUE FLANAGAN
Design Editor

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — President Donald Trump’s new international travel order takes effect Thursday, March 16.

Trump’s original executive order, issued Jan. 27, restricted international travel and barred immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – from entering the United States for 90 days. The order also halted all refugees for 120 days and banned refugees from Syria indefinitely.

The order was suspended by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Feb. 9. The Department of Justice filed a brief with the court explaining that Trump’s new order “revokes” the first one, allowing the court to drop the case against the first order and focus on defending expected legal challenges against the new one.

The new order was signed March 6 and has been adjusted to answer legal criticism of the first order. The updated order no longer gives immigration preference to “religious minorities” but continues to temporarily bar citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Syria from entering the U.S. for another 90 days and all refugees for 120 days. The updated order has removed Iraq from the list in an agreement that their government uses a more thorough screening process, while the indefinite ban on Syria was dropped.

Citizens of the aforementioned countries with legal permanent residence in the states – commonly known as green card holders – are not affected. Nor are citizens with valid visas as of March 13.

The university has been sending out a weekly newsletter since the Feb. 7-8 international student forums to keep both international and domestic students, faculty and staff up-to-date.

The March 10 newsletter reiterated the new order’s restrictions and reminded students of the possibility of revisions from the Department of Homeland Security in its vetting procedures and information sharing in the next few months.

“All foreign national travelers to the United States are cautioned that they may be subject to extra screening by Customs and Border Protection, and they should plan for extra travel time when entering the United States or obtaining a visa (if eligible), as processes may slow in the coming months,” the newsletter read. “This is particularly true for foreign nationals who use the visa interview waiver program, which allows certain pre-screened foreign nationals to avoid an in-person interview to obtain a visa.”

The UCM Office of Graduate and International Studies sends the newsletter out each Friday. The newsletter contains current information the university has in relation to the international community and can be found online at https://www.ucmo.edu/daily and its archive.