Pentagon compiling list of Iraqis it wants exempted from Trump's executive order

The Defense Department is compiling a list of Iraqis who assisted U.S. military operations and should be granted special consideration to enter the United States, despite a new executive order from President Trump banning their entry for the next 90 days.

Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said DOD did not yet have an estimate for how many Iraqis would be on the list, but said it included interpreters, pilots training to fly F-16s in Arizona and others who have "taken up arms" in support of the United States.

Davis said the Pentagon was sending the list to the White House to "inform" any long-term decisions. Trump's executive order also temporarily bans the entrance of residents from six other Muslim-majority countries -- Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Iran.

The order, which drove thousands of people to the streets (and airports) to protest over the weekend, drew criticism from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who said he feared it would be "a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism."

Davis declined to say whether Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had been notified about Trump's executive order before the president arrived at the Pentagon to sign it Friday.

"We have been given the opportunity" to submit the names for consideration, Davis said.

Meanwhile, Davis said there are approximately an average of 18,700 green-card-holding members of the U.S. military at any given time, while approximately 5,000 non-U.S. citizens enlist annually.