TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP PEOPLE/SEAN SPICER: “White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday contradicted a Justice Department court filing on President Donald Trump’s plans to rescind his executive order on visas and refugees, saying the original ban wouldn’t be revoked as another one is issued.
At a White House press briefing, Mr. Spicer said the president would soon issue a new executive order with an updated iteration of the ban but he wouldn’t rescind the current order, which has been suspended by the courts. The order temporarily blocked entry to the U.S. from seven majority-Muslim countries. It also temporarily halted the U.S. refugee program and indefinitely blocked entry by refugees from Syria.
The administration says the ban is aimed at halting immigration from countries identified as having poor ability to vet migrants for connections to terrorism. Critics say the order is an unconstitutional attempt to screen immigrants on the basis of religion and fails to provide due-process rights to those affected.”
–Ted Mann and Bremt Kendall, “White House Contradicts Justice Department on Immigration Order,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 21, 2017