Green card holders not barred from entering US : Department of Homeland Security

JFK Airport Terminal 1 Photo by Doug Letterman via Wikimedia Commons

The Department of Homeland Security has said President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on restricting travel to the United States from seven countreis does not bar lawful permanent residents – which include Green Card holders – from entering the country.

“As Secretary (John F) Kelly previously stated, in applying the provisions of the president’s executive order, the entry of lawful permanent residents is in the national interest,” a Department of Homeland Security statement said.

“Accordingly, absent significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in our case-by-case determinations,” the Department said.

“We are and will remain in compliance with judicial orders. We are and will continue to enforce President Trump’s executive order humanely and with professionalism. DHS will continue to protect the homeland,” the statement said in the wake of a federal judge’s restraining deportation of those detained at the airports during transit while the executive order went into force.

Upon issuance of the court orders yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) immediately began taking steps to comply with the orders. the Department of Homeland Security said.

Concurrently, it said, the Department of Homeland Security continues to work with its partners in the Departments of Justice and State to implement President Trump’s executive order on protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.

“We are committed to ensuring that all individuals affected by the executive orders, including those affected by the court orders, are being provided all rights afforded under the law. We are also working closely with airline partners to prevent travelers who would not be granted entry under the executive orders from boarding international flights to the U.S. Therefore, we do not anticipate that further individuals traveling by air to the United States will be affected.”

Meanwhile, protests erupted in several U.S. cities over the weekend with people demanding America take in refugees fleeing persecution and conflicts.

The DHS statement would remove a major confusion among travelers with permanent US residece status, after initial reports suggested that even green card holders from seven countries including Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen could not travel to the United States under the Executive Order President Trump issued last week.