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An Iraqi refugee answers your questions about life under Trump’s travel ban

Federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland blocked President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban from taking effect last week, but the government has appealed the rulings, and refugees in the U.S. and around the world are anxiously waiting to see what happens next.

In addition to restricting entry to the U.S. for people from six Muslim-majority countries, Trump’s executive order seeks to halt the resettlement of all refugees — regardless of where they’re from — and cap the total number of refugees the U.S. will admit this year at 50,000. That’s less than half as many as the Obama administration had previously agreed to accept.

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Trump’s rhetoric has created confusion about refugees. The president claims the U.S. needs to overhaul its security screening procedures in order to prevent terrorist attacks, but most refugees already undergo 18-24 months of intense vetting.

To help understand what it means to be a refugee and learn more about how they end up in the U.S., VICE News is hosting a live Q&A with Taif Jany, an Iraqi refugee who fled the sectarian violence that followed the U.S. invasion of his homeland in 2003.

Jany, now the policy coordinator for the Young Elected Officials Network, will share his story and answer your questions starting at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

If you want to chime in, let us know in the comments on Facebook Live, YouTube, or on Twitter with the hashtag #ViceNews.