Supreme Court upholds broader travel ban exemptions

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a federal judge’s travel ban interpretation, expanding the number of permitted immigrants from six terror-prone countries. The high court allowed President Donald Trump’s travel ban to go into effect June 29 after a six-month delay caused by lower court rulings. The ban restricts travel from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, and limits all refugee admissions for 120 days. The Supreme Court will review the order in full this fall but allowed it to go into effect in the meantime, with a caveat. Travelers from those countries could enter the United States if they could prove a “bona fide” relationship to a U.S. citizen. The Trump administration defined that as immediate relatives only, but Hawaii District Court Judge Derrick Watson ordered the list expanded to include grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws. The White House challenged the expansion, but the Supreme Court declared it valid. Watson also pushed back on the Trump administration’s rule that only refugees personally matched with a U.S. resettlement agency could enter. The high court sided with the Trump administration on that provision but asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to weigh in.