29 January,2017 09:26 AM IST | | Agencies
The decree signed by the US President suspends the US refugee resettlement programme for at least 120 days while tough new vetting rules are established
US President Donald Trump holds up an executive action on rebuilding the military after signing it on Friday at the Pentagon. Pic/AP
US President Donald Trump holds up an executive action on rebuilding the military after signing it on Friday at the Pentagon. Pic/AP
Washington: US President Donald Trump signed an order on Saturday to strengthen the vetting of would-be immigrants or refugees and to keep "radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America."
At a ceremony at the Pentagon to swear in James Mattis as his secretary of defence, Trump signed a decree entitled: "Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States."
The White House did not immediately make the wording of the decree public, but a draft text had been leaked to US media earlier in the week and was widely reported on. According to this unconfirmed order, Trump's decree suspends the entire US refugee resettlement programme for at least 120 days while tough new vetting rules are established. People fleeing Syria are banned until further notice.
No visas will be issued for 30 days to travellers, whether would-be visitors or migrants, from 7 mainly-Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Meanwhile, 2 Iraqi refugees were detained in New York airport, soon after the order.
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