The United States Supreme Court Allows Part of President Trump’s Travel Ban to Move Forward, Will Hear Case on its Merits

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous order lifting part of the injunction that had been placed against President Trump’s March 6 Executive Order that established a travel ban on certain people entering the United States.  This order allows the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State to restrict travel to the United States for nationals from six countries: Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.  Temporary travel to the United States from any of these countries will now be extremely limited.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court’s decision was not a full support of President Trump’s travel ban.  The Court ruled that the ban could take effect against those who did not have a “bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”  However, nationals from the six listed countries who could credibly claim such ties were exempted by the Supreme Court decision.  In other words, those with close family or work ties to the United States cannot be subject to the travel ban.  It is unclear at the moment how many people this might have an effect on.

Additionally, it is important to note that the March 6 Executive Order stated that nationals from the six affected countries who were lawful permanent residents of the United States or had valid visas as of January 27, 2017, were not subject to the ban.  Therefore, these individuals are unaffected by today’s ruling.

While today’s order partially lifted the injunction that lower courts had put in place, the Supreme Court did not reach the full merits of the travel ban.  The Court will hear arguments on this issue in the fall.

If you have questions about this post, your rights, or any other immigration law issues, please contact me at wcmenard@nmmlaw.com.