The new order and the one it replaced, which was challenged in court partly on grounds that it harmed public universities in Washington State and Minnesota, are nothing short of twin bombs dropped in the heart of admissions season, sowing chaos and confusion in their wake.
While the reissued ban provides some reassurance to students and scholars already on campus that they can travel freely, it offers little guidance to those seeking to enroll for the first time this coming fall.
The Trump administration has defended the ban based on security concerns, arguing that the timeout is needed to improve vetting and security procedures to, as the order states, "avert the entry into the United States of foreign nationals who may aid, support, or commit violent, criminal or terrorist acts."
A report by the Department of Homeland Security, however, has said there is little evidence that visitors from the countries named in the ban pose a terrorist threat to the United States.