Trump administration plans to replace controversial travel ban with new rules
The new rules could be implemented as soon as this weekend.
— -- The Trump administration is planning to introduce tailored limits on travel to the U.S. from certain countries as a replacement for its controversial travel ban, according to a senior administration source with knowledge of the plans.
The new restrictions, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, could be implemented as early as this weekend.
The administration declined to discuss details about the new travel restrictions, but a White House official provided the following statement to ABC News in response to inquiries: “The Trump administration will ensure we only admit those who can be properly vetted and will not pose a threat to national security or public safety."
The news comes one week after the president called for a "larger, tougher and more specific" travel ban as he tweeted about an explosion on the London underground.
Trump signed the original travel ban one week after his inauguration in January, setting off waves of protests and legal challenges across the country as travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen -- were suddenly blocked from entering the U.S. and, in some cases, detained by customs officials.
After a federal judge blocked the ban, a move later upheld by an appeals court, Trump signed a new order in March that revoked the first travel ban, removed Iraq from the restricted countries list and clarified rules on permanent U.S. residents, among other changes.
But the second order was temporarily put on hold by two district court judges, who noted that members of the administration, including Trump, had indicated the second travel ban was intended to be a facsimile of the first.
However, in June, upon a challenge by the Department of Justice, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be reinstated with some exceptions until the court could take up the case in the fall.
Supreme Court arguments on the matter are currently scheduled for Oct. 10.