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Page 4A NATION/WORLD East Oregonian Trump signs second travel ban Revised order answers some issues from previously blocked action, but not all By GENE JOHNSON and SADIE GURMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban eases some of the legal questions surrounding the previous order, but critics said it does not answer all of them, including accusations that the measure is a thinly veiled attempt to discriminate against Muslims. Opponents promised to challenge the president again in court. The new, narrower ban announced Monday temporarily bars new vi- sas for citizens of six predominantly Muslim countries — one fewer than the original ban, with Iraq removed from the list. It also suspends the en- tire U.S. refugee program. The measure applies only to ref- ugees who are not already on their way to the United States and people seeking new visas. It removes lan- guage that gave priority to religious minorities. Critics said the language was designed to help Christians get into the U.S. and to exclude Muslims. The changes will make the new executive order tougher to fight in court, but they “will not quell liti- gation or concerns,” Stephen Yale- Loehr, an immigration law professor at Cornell University Law School, said in a written statement. “U.S. relatives will still sue over the inability of their loved ones to join them in the United States,” he said. “U.S. companies may sue be- cause they cannot hire needed work- ers from the six countries. And U.S. universities will worry about the im- pact of the order on international stu- dents’ willingness to attend college in the United States.” The American Civil Liberties Union promised “to move very quickly” to try to stop the order. New York immigration attorney Ted Ruthizer said this ban will be “much, much tougher” for a federal judge to block. Courts could find it compelling that the order does not cover all Mus- lims from all countries, he said. And judges have a history of upholding portions of immigration law that discriminate on the basis of race and nationality when national security is an issue. “There’s still the argument that, when you take down all the window dressing, it’s still a religion ban, but these are the kinds of nuances that the courts will look at,” Ruthizer said. Top Republicans welcomed Trump’s changes. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said the revised order makes significant progress toward what Hatch called for after the first ver- sion: to avoid hindering innocent AP Photo/Hadi Mizban Men watch the news on television at a cafe in Baghdad, Iraq, Mon- day, March 6, 2017. Iraq has welcomed its removal from a revised U.S. travel ban, calling it a “positive message” at a time when American and Iraqi forces are battling the Islamic State group. Iraq welcomes removal from revised travel ban BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq wel- comed its removal from a revised U.S. travel ban on Monday, say- ing the move would strengthen its alliance with Washington as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State group in Mosul. Iraq was among seven Mus- lim-majority countries whose na- tionals were temporarily banned from traveling to the United States in an earlier order issued by Pres- ident Donald Trump in January, which sparked worldwide outrage and was blocked by the courts. The White House says the ban is needed to prevent would-be ter- rorists from entering the country while stricter vetting measures are put in place. But it removed Iraq from the list under pressure from the State Department and the De- fense Department, which had not- ed the close cooperation between the two countries in battling the IS group. “Today our battle in Mosul is a battle that Iraqis are conducting on behalf of the entire world,” For- eign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal told The Associated Press, adding that the revision of the travel ban will “enhance” the U.S.- Iraqi partnership in that fight. The original order angered many Iraqis, and prompted par- travels and refugees fleeing violence and persecution. He urged Trump “to continue the difficult work of crafting policies that keep us safe while living up to our best values.” House Speaker Paul Ryan said the order “advances our shared goal of protecting the homeland.” States that challenged the origi- nal travel ban claimed victory to an extent, saying the changes amounted liament to call for a reciprocal ban on Americans entering Iraq. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declined to impose such a measure. The revised U.S. travel order is narrower and specifies that a 90- day ban on people from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen does not apply to those who already have valid visas. A fact sheet detailing the order cited negotiations that resulted in Iraq agreeing to “increase cooper- ation with the U.S. government on the vetting of its citizens applying for a visa to travel to the United States.” Thousands of American forces are in Iraq providing air support and logistical help for a massive operation to drive IS militants from Mosul, the country’s second largest city. Smaller numbers of U.S. special operations forces are embedded with some Iraqi units. Support from a U.S.-led coali- tion has been critical in the fight against IS, helping Iraqi forces to slowly roll back the militants over the past two and a half years. Iraqi forces are now in the midst of their toughest battle yet against IS as they push to retake Mosul’s west after the eastern half of the city was declared “full liberated” in January. to an “incredible concession” that the original order was flawed, as Virgin- ia Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, put it. Herring and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who success- fully sued to stop implementation of the original order after it created cha- os at airports around the country, said they were reviewing the new order to determine what legal steps to take next. “Although the new order appears to be significantly scaled back, it still sends a horrible message to the world, to Muslim-Americans, and to minority communities across the country, without any demonstrable benefit to national security,” Herring said. Massachusetts Attorney Gener- al Maura Healey, who joined in the court challenge, described the updat- ed ban as “a clear attempt to resur- rect a discredited order and fulfill a discriminatory and unconstitutional campaign promise.” Texas Attorney General Ken Pax- ton, who backed the first ban, said in a statement that the president had the authority to secure the nation’s bor- ders “in light of the looming threat of terrorism.” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a sharp critic of the first ban, said the new version was “nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing, different packaging intended to achieve the same result.” A spokesman for the 9th U.S. Cir- cuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a Seattle judge’s restraining order in the Washington case, said the court was evaluating the new executive or- der’s effect on the existing case. The Justice Department filed papers Mon- day in federal court in Seattle arguing that the restraining order should not block the new ban from taking effect as scheduled March 16. Critics said the new order failed to address some other concerns, in- cluding the notion that the measure attempts to enact the Muslim ban Trump advocated during his cam- paign. Washington state, joined by Minnesota, argued that the order vi- olated the First Amendment’s separa- tion of church and state. The 9th Circuit’s ruling did not deal with those arguments, but the court said it would evaluate them af- ter further briefing. The states’ claims “raise serious allegations and present significant constitutional questions,” the judges wrote. Larry E. Klayman, a founder of and lawyer for the conservative group Freedom Watch, supported the original ban when it was before the appellate court and called the new version “quite modest.” “Right now, we’re in a state of war with certain countries, and this is a reasonable approach to it,” Klayman said. Additionally, a question remained over whether the new ban conflicted with federal immigration law, said Jorge Baron, executive director of the Seattle-based Northwest Immi- grant Rights Project. His organiza- tion filed a class-action complaint over the initial ban and said it would amend its arguments in light of the new one. “Our immigration laws specifi- cally say you cannot discriminate on basis of nationality in this process,” Baron said. “The president can’t re- write the law by executive order.” Tuesday, March 7, 2017 DHS may separate parents, children at border WASHINGTON (AP) — The Homeland Security De- partment is considering sep- arating children from parents caught crossing the Mexican border illegally, Secretary John Kelly said Monday. Kelly said such a move would be part of a broader effort to discourage families from making the dangerous trek across Mexico to the U.S. border. He confirmed that he’s considering the action during an interview with CNN Monday. The plan had previ- ously been reported by sever- al news outlets. Tens of thousands of par- ents and children fleeing vi- olence and poverty, mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, have been caught crossing the border illegally in recent years. Generally, the families are detained for a few days or weeks before being released into the United States to wait for an immigration judge to decide their fate. “I would do almost any- thing to deter the people from Central America getting on this very, very dangerous network ... going through Mexico,” Kelly said during his television interview. Homeland Security of- ficials have been trying to curb the flow of families since 2014 when a flood of both children and families overwhelmed immigration officials. The department launched a public relations campaign in Central Ameri- ca to warn about the dangers and advise families that there would be no free pass into the United States. The Obama administra- tion opened multiple deten- tion centers that year, in part to deter others from crossing, to house families while im- migration judges and asylum officers heard their cases But a federal judge in California later ruled that detaining children violated a long-standing agreement that bars the government from detaining children in a jail-like setting, even if they are with their parents. That ruling prompted the govern- ment to start releasing fami- lies into the U.S. NATION/WORLD Tuesday, March 7, 2017 U.S. moves parts of controversial missile defense to South Korea SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. missile launch- ers and other equipment need- ed to set up a controversial missile defense system have arrived in South Korea, the U.S. and South Korean mili- taries said Tuesday, a day af- ter North Korea test-launched four ballistic missiles into the ocean near Japan. The plans to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, by the end of this year have angered not only North Ko- rea, but also China and Russia, which see the system’s power- ful radars as a security threat. Washington and Seoul say the system is defensive and not meant to be a threat to Beijing or Moscow. The U.S. military said in a statement that THAAD is meant to intercept and de- stroy short and medium range ballistic missiles during the last part of their flights. “Continued provocative actions by North Korea, to include yesterday’s launch of multiple missiles, only confirm the prudence of our alliance decision last year to deploy THAAD to South Korea,” Adm. Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Com- mand, said in the statement. Some South Korean lib- eral presidential candidates have said that the security benefits of having THAAD would be curtailed by wors- ened relations with neighbors U.S. Force Korea via AP In this photo provided by U.S. Forces Korea, trucks carrying parts of U.S. missile launchers and other equipment needed to set up Terminal High Altitude Area De- fense (THAAD) missile defense system arrive at Osan air base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Monday. China and Russia. China’s condemnation of South Korean plans to de- ploy THAAD has triggered protests against South Kore- an retail giant, Lotte, which agreed to provide one of its golf courses in southern South Korea as the site of THAAD. The South Korean government also raised wor- ries about a reported ban on Chinese tour groups visiting the country. An official from South Korea’s Defense Minis- try, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules, said that the equipment that arrived in South Korea in- cluded launchers, but didn’t confirm how many. On Monday, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles in an apparent protest against ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal. The missiles flew about 1,000 ki- lometers (620 miles) on av- erage, three of them landing in waters that Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone, according to South Korean and Japanese officials. The North’s state media on Tuesday said leader Kim Jong Un supervised a ballis- tic rocket launching drill, a likely reference to the four launches reported by Seoul and Tokyo. Involved in the drills were artillery units tasked with striking “U.S. imperialist aggressor forces in Japan,” according to the Korean Central News Agen- cy. As president, Trump seeks answers on his own wiretap mystery WASHINGTON (AP) — If Donald Trump wants to know whether he was the subject of surveillance by the U.S. gov- ernment, he may be uniquely positioned to get an answer. In a series of weekend tweets, the president accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of ordering wiretaps on his phones but offered no proof to back the claim. The White House then called on Congress to investigate the allegations. But former government lawyers say Trump hardly needs Congress to answer this question. “The intelligence commu- nity works for the president, so if a president wanted to know whether surveillance had been conducted on a par- ticular target, all he’d have to do is ask,” said Todd Hinnen, head of the Justice Depart- ment’s National Security Di- vision during the Obama ad- ministration and a National Security Council staff mem- ber under George W. Bush. The latest storm began Saturday when Trump tweet- ed: “Is it legal for a sitting President to be ‘wire tap- ping’ a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!” He followed up with: “How low has Pres- ident Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” The Justice Department, not the president, would have the authority to conduct such surveillance, and officials have not confirmed any such action. Through a spokesman, Obama said neither he nor any White House official had ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Obama’s top intelligence official, James Clapper, also said Trump’s claims were false, and a U.S. official said the FBI asked the Justice Department to rebut Trump’s assertions. Why turn to Congress, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer was asked Monday. “My understanding is that the president directing the Department of Justice to do something with respect to an investigation that may or may not occur with evidence may be seen as trying to in- terfere,” Spicer said. “And I think that we’re trying to do this in the proper way.” He indicated that Trump was responding to media re- ports rather than any word from the intelligence com- munity. Other officials have suggested the president was acting on other information. Sen. John McCain, chair- man of the Armed Services Committee, said Monday that Trump needs to give more information to the American people and Congress about his wiretapping accusations. “The dimensions of this are huge,” McCain said. “It’s ac- cusing a former president of the United States of violating the law. That’s never hap- pened before.” As for the genesis of a possible wiretap, it is pos- sible the president was re- ferring to the Foreign Intel- ligence Surveillance Act, a 1978 law that permits inves- tigators, with a warrant, to collect the communications of someone they suspect of being an agent of a foreign power. That can include for- eign ambassadors or other foreign officials who operate in the U.S. whose commu- nications are monitored as a matter of routine for counter- intelligence purposes. East Oregonian Page 5A Supreme Court won’t decide if trans teen can pick bathroom WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is leaving the issue of trans- gender rights in schools to lower courts for now after backing out of a high-pro- file case Monday of a Vir- ginia high school student who sued to be able to use the boys’ bathroom. The court’s order in the case of teenager Gavin Grimm means that atten- tion now will turn to lower courts around the country that are grappling with rights of transgender stu- dents to use school bath- rooms that correspond to their chosen gender, not the one assigned at birth. The appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, and other appellate panels han- dling similar cases around the country will have the first chance to decide whether federal anti-dis- crimination law or the Constitution protects trans- gender students’ rights. Monday’s action by a court that has been short-handed for more than a year comes after the Trump administration pulled back federal guid- ance advising schools to let students use the bathroom of their chosen gender, not the one assigned at birth. The justices rejected a call from both sides to de- cide the issue in a case that was dramatically altered by the election of President Donald Trump. Grimm’s case had been scheduled for argument in late March. Instead, a low- er court in Virginia will be tasked with evaluating the federal law known as Title IX and the extent to which it applies to transgender students. Lawsuits involv- ing transgender students are making their way through the courts in at least five other states: Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylva- nia and Wisconsin. For Grimm, the order means that he probably will graduate with the issue un- resolved. Now, his wish to use the boys’ bathroom is blocked by a policy of the Gloucester County school board. Although he won a court order allowing him to use the boys’ bathroom at Gloucester High School, the Supreme Court put it on hold last August, before the school year began. Talking to reporters by telephone Monday, Grimm said the situation has add- ed stress to the usual senior year worries of applying to college because the “school board has sent this direct message ... that there is something about you that deserves to be segre- gated from the rest of the student body.” The court case has drawn attention from all over the world. Apple, IBM and Microsoft were among the 53 companies that signed onto a brief filed last week urging the court to rule in his favor. U.S. warning to Israel signals new backpedaling JERUSALEM (AP) — The Trump administration has explicitly warned Israel against annexing parts of the occupied West Bank, saying it would trigger an “immediate crisis” be- tween the two close allies, Israel’s defense minister said Monday. It was the latest indica- tion that President Donald Trump is returning to more traditional U.S. policy and will not give Israel free rein to expand its control over the West Bank and sideline the Palestinians, as Israeli nationalists had hoped. Speaking in parliament, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said U.S. offi- citizenship or be allowed to vote for the Knesset, or parliament. Although Ne- tanyahu has not endorsed the one-state vision, many in his coalition do. “The two-state solu- tion is dead,” Zohar told i24NEWS, an Israeli TV channel. “What is left is a one-state solution with the Arabs here as, not as full citizenship, because full citizenship can let them to vote to the Knesset.” “They will be able to vote and be elected in their city under administrative autonomy and under Israeli sovereignty and with com- plete security control,” Zo- har added. UPCOMING CHAMBER EVENTS Stay Connected! 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