Spicer: Obama administration originally flagged 7 countries in Trump’s order

by Mallory Shelbourne - 01/29/17 9:54 AM ET

White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s latest executive order imposing a temporary ban on nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries entering the United States, arguing the Obama administration originally flagged the seven “countries of particular concern.”

“The Obama administration put these first and foremost,” Spicer told ABC’s “This Week.”

Trump on Friday signed an executive order that calls for a 90-day ban on nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries entering the United States. The countries included are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Somalia.

{mosads}In February of 2016, the Obama Administration added Libya, Yemen, and Somalia to a list of “countries of concern,” which placed some restrictions on Visa Waiver Program travel on those who had visited the countries after March 1, 2011.

Iran, Syria, Iraq and Sudan were already on the list from the administration’s original law in 2015.

Spicer said on Sunday there are many other Muslim-majority countries not included in the ban.

“There’s 46 Muslim-majority countries that are not in this seven,” he said.

Trump’s Friday order also calls for a 120-day halt on the admittance of refugees, in addition to an indefinite pause on admitting refugees from Syria.

Tags Donald Trump Iran Iraq libya Somalia Sudan Syria Yemen