In reversal, Reince Priebus says green card holders won't be barred in US

Priebus adds that agents had discretionary authority to detain and question suspicious travellers

A top White House official appeared to reverse a key part of President Trump’s immigration order on Sunday, saying that people from the affected countries who hold green cards will not be prevented from returning to the United States.

But the official, Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, also said that border agents had “discretionary authority” to detain and question suspicious travelers from certain countries. That statement seemed to add to the uncertainty over how the executive order will be interpreted and enforced in the days ahead.

Part of the president’s order gives preferential treatment to Christians who try to enter the United States from majority-Muslim countries. In a Twitter post on Sunday morning, Trump deplored the killings of Christians in the Middle East without noting the killings of Muslims, who have been killed in vastly greater numbers in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.

Trump asserted last week that Christians had been “treated horribly” under previous administrations. “If you were a Muslim, you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible,” he said Friday in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network. “I thought it was very, very unfair. So we are going to help them.” The president’s order, enacted with the stroke of a pen at 4:42 pm Eastern on Friday, suspended entry of all refugees to the United States for 120 days, barred Syrian refugees indefinitely and blocked entry into the United States for 90 days for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

A series of rulings by federal judges across the country blocked part of the president’s actions, preventing the government from deporting some travelers who found themselves ensnared by the presidential order. But the court decisions largely stopped short of letting them into the country or issuing a broader ruling on the constitutionality of Trump’s actions. Lawyers for those denied entry said on Sunday that there was significant confusion and disagreement among border agents about who was affected by Trump’s order.

In a statement Sunday morning, the Department of Homeland Security said that agents would “continue to enforce all of President Trump’s executive orders,” and that “prohibited travel will remain prohibited.” But it also said that the department “will comply with judicial orders.” The confusion was evident in the handling of those who have valid green cards, making them legal permanent residents of the United States. On Saturday night, the Department of Homeland Security said that Trump’s order did apply to green card holders who were travelling to the United States from the seven countries affected.

© 2017 The New York Times News Service