Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive action on Friday temporarily halting the flow of refugees into the United Sates and stopping all entries from some majority-Muslim nations, his spokesman said, according to The Associated Press.

A draft of the order obtained by the news agency also includes an indefinite ban on accepting Syrian refugees, and the pause in the broader refugee program extends for 120 days.

Reports of the executive order first surfaced earlier this week, and indications were that it would include Syria and would also block visas from being issued to Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

According to the draft order, the president plans to suspend issuing visas for those countries for at least 30 days.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump intended to sign the order during a Friday afternoon visit to the Pentagon, along with actions related to military readiness and the National Security Council. Details of those directives were not immediately clear.

While at the Pentagon, Trump was expected to meet with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and attend a ceremonial swearing-in for Defense Secretary James Mattis.

During the election campaign, Trump caused an uproar when he called for a temporary ban on Muslim entry to the United States in order to prevent terrorism.

Trump also promised during the campaign to institute “extreme vetting” of immigrants to protect the nation from radical Islamic terror.

Former President Barack Obama’s decision to increase the number of Syrian refugees admitted to the United States was widely criticized, due to fears that those fleeing the country's civil war would carry out attacks.

24 states announced in late 2015 they would block the program to resettle Syrian migrants within their borders due to security concerns, leading to the introduction of a Republican-sponsored bill which would curb the flow of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the United States in order to prevent terrorists from slipping in.

The bill passed the House with broad bipartisan support but was subsequently blocked by Senate Democrats.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)