Kuwaitis not affected by Trump ban: envoy

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WASHINGTON, Feb 2, (Agencies): Kuwait Ambassador to the US Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al- Jaber Al-Sabah stressed that the US administration’s travel ban will not affect Kuwaiti citizens who wish to travel to the United States. Sheikh Salem Al-Abdullah even encouraged Kuwaitis to resume their plans to visit the US as usual, however, he advised them to abide by the US authorities’ laws and regulations. The US administration temporary travel ban includes: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Somalia.

The White House said on Wednesday it has issued updated guidance on President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration clarifying that legal permanent residents, or green card holders, do not require a waiver to enter the United States. “They no longer need a waiver because if they are a legal permanent resident they won’t need it anymore,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a news briefing.

The restriction on green card holders was among the most confusing element in the executive order signed on Friday. Initially, administration officials said such permanent legal residents were barred from entry under the executive order, although they could apply for a waiver and be rescreened. After the ensuing outcry — including legal challenges — over legal residents being detained, the Homeland Security Department said on Sunday green card holders would be allowed on planes to the United States and would be assessed upon arrival. “We expect swift entry for these individuals,” DHS said.

Spicer said the White House counsel issued an update on Wednesday to clarify that those legal permanent residents no longer need a waiver. “Initially, as the program was lifting off, the idea was that they would go through be granted a waiver, of which everyone was,” Spicer told the news briefing. “In the sake of efficiency, we have interpreted the guidance to all of these agencies … that that does not apply, they no longer need a waiver.”

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled Trump’s administration must allow immigrants with initial clearance for legal residency to enter the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations, despite an executive order ban.

Tuesday’s ruling by US District Judge Andre Birotte Jr follows decisions by federal judges in at least four other states that also limited the executive order Trump issued on Friday. But it goes further, by focusing on a large group of people from the seven nations of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — the countries targeted in the executive order — who are outside the United States and trying to enter.

In the temporary ruling, Birotte ordered US officials to refrain from “removing, detaining or blocking the entry of plaintiffs or any other person … with a valid immigrant visa” who is arriving from one of the seven nations. According to the US Department of State, immigrant visas are the first step to becoming a lawful permanent resident, or a green card holder. Birotte’s ruling does not apply to tourists, students or business travelers with non-immigrant visas.

The US Department of Justice is reviewing the order and would have no further comment, a spokeswoman for the agency said in an email. A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security cited its policy of not commenting on pending litigation. Trump’s executive order has not only caused consternation for the nations involved but among other Muslim-majority countries, allies such as Germany and Britain and career State Department officials.

Attorney Julie Ann Goldberg, who brought the case on behalf of more than two dozen plaintiffs of Yemeni descent, including US citizens, said they sought the ruling after learning of a move by the US State Department to cancel the immigrant visas of people from the seven countries. More than 200 people with immigrant visas who left Yemen and are related to US citizens or legal residents are stranded in Djibouti across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from Yemen and were barred from flying to the United States, Goldberg said by telephone from Djibouti. “It’s terrible because I have children here who are without their parents,” she said. Some other children in the group are US citizens whose parents were traveling with immigrant visas, she added.

In Boston, US District Judge Allison Burroughs on Sunday issued a ruling, to last seven days, that barred the detention and removal of approved refugees, visa holders and permanent US residents who entered from the seven countries. By early Thursday in Djibouti, Goldberg said, no one from the group she represented was being allowed to leave for the United States. She accused the Trump administration of “absolutely ignoring” rulings she believes should allow their departure. In an email, a State Department official confirmed the agency had provisionally revoked “relevant visas as defined” under Trump’s executive order. The White House said on Wednesday it has issued updated guidance on the order clarifying that green card holders require no waiver to enter the United States.

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