People granted legal permanent resident status through green cards are included in the executive action President Donald Trump signed barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries from the United States, Reuters reported Saturday.
“It will bar green card holders,” Gillian Christensen, acting Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, told Reuters in an email.
A senior administration official told White House pool reporters Saturday that green card holders will have to be cleared on a case-by-case basis. The official also said that Trump officials have been in touch with the State Department and Department of Homeland Security about the order for weeks, according to the pool report.
Citizens of Iraq, Sudan, Iran, Libya, Somalia and Yemen are prohibited from entering the United States for 90 days under the order, which went into effect immediately after Trump signed it on Friday. Refugees from Syria are banned indefinitely under the order.
The administration official argued that the policy did not amount to a Muslim ban, noting there other majority-Muslim countries like Afghanistan were not on the list.
“It’s important to keep in mind that no person living or residing overseas has a right to entry to the US,” the official said, according to the pool report.
Visa and green card holders who are already in the U.S. will be permitted to stay, the Associated Press reported.
This post has been updated.