Green card holders will need additional screening: White House

[January 30, 2017]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. green card holders will require additional screening before they can return to the United States, the White House said on Saturday.

A TSA security officer and his dog scan departing passengers at Lindbergh Field airport in San Diego, California, U.S. July 1, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Earlier, a Department of Homeland Security official said people holding green cards, making them legal permanent U.S. residents, were included in President Donald Trump's executive action temporarily barring people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

"It will bar green card holders," Gillian Christensen, acting Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said in an email.

A senior White House official later sought to clarify the situation, saying green card holders who had left the United States and wanted to return would have to visit a U.S. embassy or consulate to undergo additional screening.

"You will be allowed to re-enter the United States pending a routine rescreening," the official said.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Alan Crosby and Paul Tait)

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