International

Iraq says removal from travel ban sends ‘positive message’

by Rebecca Savransky 03/06/17 10:41 AM ET

Iraq said its reported removal from President Trump’s revised travel ban sends a “positive message” for relations between the two countries, The Associated Press reported.

The administration’s choice to revise the ban shows a “real partnership” between Washington and Baghdad, Iraqi government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said.

Trump is expected to issue a revised immigration order Monday.

{mosads}Trump’s top aide Kellyanne Conway on Monday said the new order would no longer include Iraq, based on “their enhanced screening and reporting measures.”

The new order is expected to take effect March 16, Conway added.

“The legal permanent residents were always excluded from it, but that’s made much more clear now,” Conway said on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.”

“If you have travel docs, if you actually have a visa, if you’re a legal permanent resident, you are not covered under this particular executive action.”

Conway also said under the new order, Syrian refugees would be treated the way “all refugees are.”

The president’s original travel ban, issued in January, put a 90-day ban on nationals from seven predominately Muslim countries, including Iraq, from entering the U.S.

The order also called for a 120-day ban on admitting refugees and an indefinite suspension on resettling Syrian refugees.

The order spurred controversy, resulting in protests across the country and backlash from some lawmakers.

The order was later blocked by a federal judge in Seattle. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled last month that a nationwide restraining order on the travel ban would stay in place.