Priebus: More Countries Might Be Added [VIDEO]

NBC News reports:

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus muddied the waters on President Donald Trump’s new executive order barring immigration from select countries, saying Sunday it “doesn’t include green card holders going forward” but adding that anyone traveling back and forth from the countries in question will be subject to further screening, including U.S. citizens.

In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Priebus was asked about reports that the executive order affected green card holders, contrary to recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security.

“We didn’t overrule the Department of Homeland Security, as far as green card holders moving forward, it doesn’t affect them,” Priebus first said. But when pressed by host Chuck Todd on whether it impacts green card holders, Priebus reversed himself, saying, “Well, of course it does. If you’re traveling back and forth, you’re going to be subjected to further screening.”

He also suggested the executive order could come to encompass more than the current seven countries included in the ban, and that the order focused on people coming from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen because those were identified by Congress as “being the seven most-watched countries in regard to harboring terrorists.”

“Perhaps other countries needed to be added to an executive order going forward — but in order to do this in a way that was expeditious, in a way that would pass muster quickly, we used the 7 countries” already identified by Congress, he said.