Trump's Executive Action prevents refugee entry

President Donald Trump signed an executive action ordering the suspension of the refugee program for a period of 120 days, banning the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely, and barring the entry of citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The President claims that the measures are to overhaul the system to keep "radical Islamic terrorists" out of the United States and protect the country.

It should be noted that although the measure is aimed at refugees from countries of "special concern", the suspension of the refugee program affects people from all countries, including some from Latin America such as Cuba, El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras, among others.

Other key points of the decree:

• Reduces the number of refugees to be admitted to the country from 110,000 to 50,000 during fiscal year 2017.

Prior to President Trump's action, 5,000 entries of refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean had been authorized. It is unknown at this time whether this number will be reduced due to the new limit imposed by the Executive Order.

• Cancels the Visa Interview Waiver Program.

This program previously allowed foreign nationals who traveled to the United States multiple times to renew their visas without having to attend an in-person interview. Under the new order, these travelers will now be required to attend in-person interviews to renew their visas.

• Proposes the implementation of uniform immigrant review procedures for all immigration programs.

This measure is intended to prevent fraud. To this end, it proposes uniformity in the process, including in-person interviews and a database of identity documents presented by applicants to ensure that others do not use duplicates of those documents.

• Proposes to accelerate the implementation of a biometric system for tracking the entry and exit of all travelers to the United States.

President Trump signed the executive order, titled "Protection of the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States," on Friday, January 27, three days after reports leaked reports of measures aimed at restricting immigration into the country.

Last week President Trump also signed two executive actions to authorize the expansion of the wall with Mexico, strengthen border security, streamline the deportation process, and penalize "sanctuary cities."

The U.S. Secretaries of State and Homeland Security may, on a case-by-case basis and if there is a national interest, issue visas or other immigration benefits to citizens of countries that are being blocked from receiving visas and benefits under President Trump's executive order.

Several lawsuits have already been filed against the most recent executive action.