WASHINGTON — Two top Trump administration officials reversed a key part of the president’s immigration order Sunday, saying people from the affected countries who hold green cards will not be prevented from returning to the United States.
Even with the officials’ statements, much of the order was still being enforced during the day, and travel was disrupted for many around the world.
John F. Kelly, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, released a statement officially easing a key part of the order Sunday evening. People with “lawful permanent resident status’’ will be allowed to enter the country, Kelly said
Earlier Sunday, Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press’’ that the president’s order was needed to protect Americans against terrorism, but he added, “As far as green card holders, moving forward, it doesn’t affect them.’’
However, Priebus also suggested that anyone, including American citizens, who traveled from any of the seven predominantly Muslim countries identified in the order would be subjected to additional scrutiny. That statement seemed to add to the uncertainty on how the executive order will be interpreted and enforced in the days ahead.
Homeland Security officials had said Saturday that the order would affect green card holders and other with legal visas for the United States, saying those people would require case-by-case waivers to gain entry.
Thousands of protesters gathered for a second day at US airports and other public spaces amid uncertainty about whether federal officers were fully complying with court orders blocking the immediate deportation of some people arriving from affected countries and requiring that anyone detained be granted access to lawyers.
The president’s order, signed 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 countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
A series of rulings by federal judges across the country, including one in Boston, 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.
With several prominent Republicans in Congress saying they opposed the new policy, Democrats sensed an opportunity to score a victory against the new administration, saying they would file legislation to overturn it, if necessary.
Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, meanwhile, warned in a statement of unintended consequences, expressing fear the order could ‘‘become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism.’’
“We fear this executive order may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security,’’ they wrote.
Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio said on CNN that he didn’t think the executive action was properly reviewed. ‘‘I think we should slow down’’ and that lawmakers ‘‘ought to be part’’ of the discussions about how best to tighten screening for foreigners who enter the United States.
With thousands of protesters marching outside the White House and thronging the streets of Washington and other cities, Trump late Sunday defended his order.
“To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting,’’ he said in a written statement. “This is not about religion — this is about terror and keeping our country safe.
“We will again be issuing visas to all countries once we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days,’’ Trump said.
As for Syria, whose refugees he has banned indefinitely, Trump said he was mindful of the suffering of victims of the long-running civil war.
“I have tremendous feeling for the people involved in this horrific humanitarian crisis in Syria,’’ he said. “My first priority will always be to protect and serve our country, but as president I will find ways to help all those who are suffering.’’
While Trump denied that his action was targeted against Muslims, just hours earlier he made clear on Twitter that he was concerned about Christian refugees. Part of his order gives preferential treatment to Christians who try to enter the United States from majority-Muslim countries.
In his Twitter post Sunday morning, Trump deplored the killing 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.
“Christians in the Middle-East have been executed in large numbers,’’ Trump wrote. “We cannot allow this horror to continue!’’
In a second Twitter message Sunday, the president said that the United States needed strong borders and “extreme vetting’’ to protect itself from terrorists.
Lawyers for those denied entry said Sunday 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 legal battles over the president’s order intensified as lawyers for those detained accused the government of failing to abide by the Saturday night rulings and said agents were refusing to allow them access to potential clients, in direct violation of those rulings.
“We continue to face Border Patrol noncompliance and chaos,’’ said Marielena Hincapié, the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.
In New York, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union filed a request for clarification with the Brooklyn judge who had blocked part of the president’s order Saturday night.
“Petitioners’ counsel have received repeated reports of individual members subject to the order who have been placed on planes, possibly deported,’’ the lawyers wrote in a motion to the court.
