The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to keep in place strict regulations adopted as part of the president’s travel ban that temporarily halt the entry of refugees into the United States.
The Justice Department on Monday asked the Supreme Court to block an appellate court ruling issued last week that determined any refugees who are already working with nonprofit resettlement agencies in the U.S. must be admitted.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled that extended family members including nieces, nephews and cousins of people already in the U.S. are considered “close” enough that they have to be exempted from the travel ban.
The Justice Department is not challenging that part of the ruling, which is set to go into effect Tuesday.
Approximately 24,000 refugees would be able to enter the U.S. because they’ve received “assurances” that a resettlement agency has promised the federal government The Justice Department argues in its filing that the “refugee-resettlement agencies’ assurance agreements are with the federal government and do not establish any relationship ’with a particular person seeking to enter the country as a refugee.’”
President Trump’s original travel ban called for halting admissions to the U.S. of visitors and immigrants from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian and Yemen. The president also called for a total halt on refugee admissions.
The 90-day country ban is slated to expire later in September, or just weeks before the Supreme Court is expected to take up the case once again.
The refugee ban was slated to last 120 days, with a more permanent ban on refugees from Syria, where the U.S. says it struggles to vet identities.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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