Travel Ban: Where Are We Now?

On March 6th, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13780: Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States. This order was signed in response to injunctions by various federal courts held against the original travel ban. After several injunctions filed against the second travel ban, the White House issued Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24th, 2017 establishing visa restrictions on Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.

As of November 13, 2017, the Ninth Circuit issued an order staying the district court’s October 20th, 2017 preliminary injunction against entry restrictions on nationals of six Muslim-majority countries, except as to foreign nationals who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States. As such, people with a qualifying family relationship (grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins), or a qualifying entity relationship (formal, documented, and formed in the ordinary course, rather than for the purpose of evading Presidential Proclamation 9645) are allowed into the country. The district court did not enjoin the Presidential Proclamation’s entry restrictions against nationals of North Korea and certain nationals of Venezuela, and the travel ban remains in effect for those countries as originally stated in Presidential Proclamation 9645. On November 21st, 2017, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to halt the injunctions against the travel ban and to reinstate the full travel ban, without exception.

As of this week, travelers from the affected countries, except those with a qualifying family or entity relationship (and who are not from Venezuela or North Korea), will continue to be deemed inadmissible to the United States.

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