Justice Kennedy’s Order Temporarily Leaves in Place Trump Travel Ban on Refugees
11, 2017
WASHINGTON — Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Monday issued a temporary order allowing the Trump administration to exclude
most refugees from entering the United States while the Supreme Court considers challenges to its revised travel ban.
In July, Judge Derrick K. Watson of the Federal District Court in Honolulu disagreed with the administration’s
interpretation of the Supreme Court’s ruling as to both refugees and relatives.
The Department of Justice argued that agreements between the government
and resettlement agencies do not give rise to the "bona fide relationship" the Supreme Court said were required to allow entry while the travel ban litigation moved forward.
In June, the Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals from those rulings and temporarily reinstated part of the ban —
but only for people without "a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States." The court did not specify who qualified as a close relative, though it did say spouses and mothers-in-law "clearly" counted.
Watson said that It is formal, it is a documented contract, it is binding, it triggers responsibilities and obligations, including compensation, it is issued specific to an individual refugee only when
that refugee has been approved for entry by the Department of Homeland Security.
Had the Supreme Court not acted, an appeals court ruling lifting the ban on refugees would have gone into effect on Tuesday.