The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] on Tuesday withdrew [motion, PDF] its appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] regarding a challenge [case materials] to President Donald Trump’s previous executive order on immigration. The move comes after Trump signed [JURIST report] a new executive order [text] on Monday. The new order bans the entry of nationals from Iran, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen for 90 days. Iraq, which was included in the first executive order, was removed from the list. The number of refugees admitted into the US has been restricted to 50,000 for 2017. Decisions on refugee status are suspended for 120 days under the new order. The new executive order becomes effective March 16, 2017.

The DOJ previously requested [JURIST report] a hold on the appeal in late February. That request was denied [opinion, PDF] by the court on February 27. The initial executive order has faced numerous legal challenges across the country. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued [JURIST report] Trump over the immigration order in late January. Days later, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class action lawsuit [JURIST report] accusing the Trump administration of violating the religious freedom of nationals from the seven nations named in the order.