President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Monday that temporarily blocks citizens from six majority-Muslim countries from traveling to the U.S., revoking and replacing an earlier order which was stalled in federal court after a nationwide stay was issued last month. “The United States has the world’s most generous immigration system, yet it has been repeatedly exploited by terrorists and other malicious actors who seek to do us harm,” reads a fact sheet submitted by the White House to Congress outlining the provisions of the order. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Iraq's removal from the list came after an intense review from the State Department to improve vetting of Iraqi citizens in collaboration with the Iraqi government, though he did not specify how vetting had been improved. According to an explanation released by the White House:

Per the Executive Order, foreign nationals from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen, who are outside the United States and who did not have a valid visa at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 27, 2017, and do not have a valid visa on the effective date of this order are not eligible to enter the United States while the temporary suspension remains in effect. “On the basis of negotiations that have taken place between the government of Iraq and the U.S. Department of State in the last month, Iraq will increase cooperation with the U.S. government on the vetting of its citizens applying for a visa to travel to the United States,” homeland security officials wrote in a fact sheet given to reporters.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs a revised version of Executive Order 13769 eliminating Iraq from the order and reducing the indefinite suspension of Syrian refugees to 120 days. The order will be in effect on March 16, 2017.