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U.S. Supreme Court exempts grandparents from travel ban, restricts refugee admissions

Miriam Valverde
By Miriam Valverde July 20, 2017

The U.S. Supreme Court on July 19 ordered a partial victory for President Donald Trump's travel ban — it allowed the administration to block certain refugees from coming in, but it also permitted a lower court's ruling to expand the categories of family members who can enter the country.

Trump's travel ban — which denied entry to people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — went into partial effect June 29.

Courts have made several rulings in recent weeks. Earlier, the Supreme Court said the Trump administration could not ban everyone from those countries, but only those who did not have a "bona fide relationship" with individuals or entities in the United States. For instance, a foreign individual who has "a close familial relationship" with someone in the United States should be allowed in, the Court said.

In response, the Trump administration issued a list of who fit that criteria, such as children, parents and spouses, but it omitted grandparents, grandchildren, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

Hawaii challenged that list, and a Hawaii district court judge ruled in its favor, allowing more family members to be exempt from the ban.

"Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents. Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family member. The government's definition excludes them. That simply cannot be," wrote U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson.

After Watson's ruling, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to clarify. On July 19, the Supreme Court denied that request, effectively allowing Watson's ruling to stand.

However, the Supreme Court stayed part of Watson's ruling related to refugees, allowing the Trump administration to ban some refugees who were in the process of resettling but were not yet in the United States.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the overall legality of the travel ban in October. Since Trump's travel ban is still in effect, at least partially, we continue to rate this promise In the Works.

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