Trump says he’s considering ‘brand new order’ on immigration

by Melanie Zanona - 02/10/17 5:40 PM ET

President Trump told reporters on Friday he is considering signing a “brand new order” on immigration as his original executive order faces legal trouble.

The comments, made aboard Air Force One, come after the administration signaled it would not ask the Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision that keeps the travel ban frozen.

“We also have a lot of other options, including just filing a brand new order,” Trump said, according to pool reports.

{mosads}Asked if his intention is to issue a new executive order, Trump said, “It very well could be. We need speed for reasons of security, so it very well could be.”

Trump dropped a similar hint earlier in the day.

“We’ll be doing something very rapidly having to do with additional security for our country,” Trump said during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “You’ll be seeing that sometime next week.”

NBC News reported earlier Friday that work on a new order began several days before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to lift a restraining order against the policy on Thursday.

The executive action suspends citizens from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Yemen and Syria from entering the U.S. for 90 days, halts the refugee program for 120 days and indefinitely bars the acceptance of Syrian refugees.

A federal judge in Seattle put the controversial policy on ice last week so the courts could consider a legal challenge from Washington and Minnesota. The appeals court late Thursday denied a request from the federal government to lift that order and allow the implementation of the order to resume.

Using the appeals court opinion as a playbook, Trump’s lawyers could rework the language in a way that is more likely to pass legal muster, such as clarifying that the order doesn’t apply to legal permanent residents and other certain visa holders.

An order tailored in that way could stand a better chance of winning in court, say legal experts, but could still face legal challenges.

Tags Donald Trump