Travel ban guidelines going into effect

After months of court delays, part of President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration goes into effect Thursday. Starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time, U.S. embassies and consulates will begin implementing new rules for refugees and travelers from six terror-prone countries. Previously approved visas will remain valid, but new applicants from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran, and Yemen will only be approved if they can prove a close relationship with someone already in the United States. A parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, or sibling would count as a close relationship, but grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, fiancées, or other extended family members would not. The same requirements pertain to refugees from any nation, placing many in an indefinite waiting period. The changes come just three days after the Supreme Court partially restored Trump’s travel order, which lower courts blocked amid public backlash. The Supreme Court will review the order later this year to determine the scope of presidential authority for banning travel and blocking refugees.

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