Trump plans to unveil new immigration order next week

The Trump administration plans to unveil a revised executive order on immigration next week and rescind the president’s initial travel ban, which has been entrenched in legal battles throughout the country.

President Trump said during a news conference on Thursday that he would unveil a more tailored travel ban “next week sometime.”

“We are issuing a new executive action next week that will comprehensively protect our country,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a San Francisco-based appeals court not to review a decision by a three-judge panel to keep the immigration policy on hold while it moves through the legal system, citing plans to soon replace the order with a “superseding” one.

“Rather than continuing this litigation, the President intends in the near future to rescind the Order and replace it with a new, substantially revised Executive Order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns,” the DOJ said in a brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9^th Circuit.

A judge on the appeals court had requested that the entire court vote on whether to rehear the case after a three-judge panel refused to lift a temporary restraining against the travel ban, which was issued while a lower court debates the merits of the policy.

But with a new immigration order on the horizon, the administration appears to be backing down on appealing the decision, which would have taken weeks or months to resolve.

“In so doing, the President will clear the way for immediately protecting the country rather than pursuing further, potentially time-consuming litigation,” the DOJ said in its filing.

Trump said Thursday that they are tweaking the policy so that it can stand up court, using the appeals court ruling as a playbook.  

The new ban could clarify that the travel restrictions do not apply to legal permanent residents and other certain visa holders. 

“We can tailor the order and get just about everything… We have some of the best lawyers in the country working on it,” Trump said. “It’s being tailored to the decision we got down from court.”

– This story was updated at 2:48 p.m.