President Trump signed a new executive order on immigration policy. Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, John Kelly, issued a statement on March 6, 2017 that lauded the president’s efforts with respect to this order.

The order is titled, “Executive Order Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” and the order can be here.

As an immigration lawyer in Columbus, Ohio, who has studied Trump’s executive order on immigration, the order’s stated policy is to revoke his previous order (Executive Order 13769) and replace it with this order. The difference between the two is that the most recent order expressly excludes from the suspensions categories of aliens that have prompted judicial concerns and which clarifies or refines the approach to certain other issues or categories of affected aliens.

If you have questions about Trump’s executive orders on immigration, contact the Columbus, Ohio based boutique immigration law firm to speak with an immigration attorney today.

Secretary Kelly Statements on Trump Executive Order on Immigration

“Fourteen years ago on March 1, 2003, DHS was established. We did so as a nation because we needed to rethink our approach to homeland security. Many will recall the conclusions we reached then; that we needed to overcome a “lack of imagination” with regard to the threats we faced, and, second, that we needed to overcome our collective inability to take the dots of intelligence and arrange them into a more comprehensive picture of the threats posed to America and our way of life.

“Though much has changed since then, both in the world and at DHS, it is clear that Americans are not invulnerable to terrorist threats, and that our enemies will exploit our freedoms and generosity to harm us.

“The Executive Order signed today by President Trump will make America safer, and address long-overdue concerns about the security of our immigration system. We must undertake a rigorous review of our visa and refugee vetting programs to increase our confidence in the entry decisions we make for visitors and immigrants to the United States. We cannot risk the prospect of malevolent actors using our immigration system to take American lives.

“The Executive Order signed today is prospective in nature—applying only to foreign nationals outside of the United States who do not have a valid visa. It is important to note that nothing in this executive order affects current lawful permanent residents or persons with current authorization to enter our country. If you have a current valid visa to travel, we welcome you. But unregulated, unvetted travel is not a universal privilege, especially when national security is at stake.

“The Department of Homeland Security has worked closely with the Department of Justice, the Department of State, and the White House to create an executive order that addresses our information concerns while protecting the homeland and our citizens.

“The men and women of the Department of Homeland Security—like their brothers and sisters throughout law enforcement—are decent Americans of character and conscience. They are no less so than the governors of our states and territories, of our senators and members of the congress, of our city mayors and advocacy groups. They are sworn to enforce the laws as passed by the U.S. Congress and would be in violation of the law—and their sworn oaths—if they did not do so. We will continue to work closely with our operating components and across government to implement and enforce it humanely, respectfully, and with professionalism.

“I want to thank the President for his leadership on this issue and his steadfast support of DHS’ important law enforcement, security, and counterterrorism missions.”

For more information about DHS and the executive order, please visit https://www.dhs.gov/executiveorders

Immigration Lawyer in Columbus, Ohio

Green Card, H-1B Visa, Naturalization

The experienced immigration attorney at Columbus, Ohio-based Porter Law Office, LLC has in depth experience with securing green cards, visas and naturalization. If you have questions about Trump’s executive order on immigration, or any other immigration benefit, do not hesitate to schedule a consultation. If you need assistance with another immigration issue that is beyond the scope of this article, contact the business immigration lawyer at Porter Law Office, LLC in Columbus, Ohio today.