Trump: New immigration order to be unveiled next week

"We had a bad court, got a bad decision," Trump said of the court rulings. 

He said the new order would address the issues raised by the court over the previous one.

"The new order is going to be very much tailored to what I consider to be a very bad decision," Trump said.

According to an unnamed congressional aide cited by Reuters last week, the new order may explicitly exclude green card holders or permanent residents.

The decision to issue a new executive order will mean further uncertainty for the legal action taken against the president for his executive order on immigration.

While Trump has been badgered by appeals court proceedings, a Seattle federal judge on Wednesday also ordered that both Washington state and the Justice Department submit their initial plans for discovery in the case by next month.

Washington state attorney general Bob Ferguson said he intends to depose Trump officials about their motives in instating the controversial travel ban. This could assist courts in deciding whether the order violated the constitution, which protects individuals against discrimination based on religion.

Thursday's announcement of a new executive order was received by Ferguson as a victory for those opposing Trump's stringent immigration policies.

"Today's court filing by the federal government recognises the obvious - the president's current executive order violates the Constitution," he said in a statement. "President Trump could have sought review of this flawed order in the Supreme Court but declined to face yet another defeat."

Trump has maintained that his directive was necessary in order to protect the US from Islamist militants.

The swift implementation of the January 27 order, however,
thrust the US immigration system into chaos and received a huge international backlash, including from businesses that rely heavily on immigrant expertise.