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Monday 17 July 2017
Feds appeal judge’s travel ban ruling to Supreme Court

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL bers. Treating all of these bypassing the San Francis-
and ELLIOT SPAGAT relationships as ‘close fa- co-based 9th U.S Circuit
Associated Press milial relationship(s)’ reads Court of Appeals, which
WASHINGTON (AP) — The the term ‘close’ out of the has ruled against it in the
Trump administration is Court’s decision.” case.
seeking to close a legal Only the Supreme Court The Supreme Court al-
window opened for tens of can decide these issues lowed a scaled-back ver-
thousands of refugees to surrounding the travel ban, sion of the travel ban to
enter the United States, ap- the Justice Department take effect last month.
pealing a federal judge’s said. “Only this Court can “Once again, we are
order directly to the Su- definitively settle whether faced with a situation in
preme Court. the government’s reason- which a single federal dis-
U.S. District Judge Derrick able implementation is trict court has undertaken
Watson had ordered the consistent with this Court’s by a nationwide injunction
government to allow in ref- stay,” it said. to micromanage decisions
ugees formally working with This Dec. 2015 file photo shows U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson On Saturday, the U.S. Jus- of the co-equal execu-
a resettlement agency in in Honolulu. tice Department asked the tive branch related to our
the United States. His order Associated Press Ninth Circuit Court of Ap- national security,” Sessions
also vastly expanded the children. and visitors from the six Mus- peals to put Watson’s ruling said.
list of U.S. family relation- In its appeal Friday night, lim-majority countries to on hold while the Supreme “By this decision, the district
ships that refugees and visi- the Justice Department enter the U.S. “empties the Court considers its appeal. court has improperly substi-
tors from six Muslim-majority said Watson’s interpreta- court’s decision of mean- The long, tangled legal tuted its policy preferences
countries can use to get tion of the Supreme Court’s ing, as it encompasses not fight is expected to culmi- for the national security
into the country, including ruling on what family rela- just ‘close’ family members, nate with arguments be- judgments of the executive
grandparents and grand- tionships qualify refugees but virtually all family mem- fore the nation’s high court branch in a time of grave
in October. threats.”
Watson’s ruling could help The administration took a
more than 24,000 refu- first step by filing a notice
gees already vetted and of appeal to the 9th Circuit,
approved by the United allowing it to use a rule to
States but barred by the petition the high court di-
120-day freeze on refugee rectly. There was no timeta-
admissions, said Becca ble for the Supreme Court
Heller, director of the In- to act, but the administra-
ternational Refugee Assis- tion sought quick action
tance Project, a resettle- to clarify the court’s June
ment agency. opinion.
“Many of them had already The justices now are scat-
sold all of their belongings tered during their summer
to start their new lives in recess, so any short-term
safety,” she said. “This deci- action would come in writ-
sion gives back hope to so ten filings.
many who would otherwise The administration has lost
be stranded indefinitely.” most legal challenges on
Citing a need to review its the travel ban, which ap-
vetting process to ensure plies to citizens of Syria, Su-
national security, the ad- dan, Somalia, Libya, Iran
ministration capped refu- and Yemen.
gee admissions at 50,000 The Supreme Court’s ruling
for the 12-month period exempted a large swath of
ending Sept. 30, a ceiling it refugees and travelers with
hit this week. a “bona fide relationship”
The federal budget can ac- with a person or an entity in
commodate up to 75,000 the U.S. The justices did not
refugees, but admissions define those relationships
have slowed under Trump, but said they could include
and the government could a close relative, a job offer
hold them to a trickle, re- or admission to a college or
settlement agencies say. university.
“Absolutely this is good The Trump administration
news for refugees, but defined the relationships as
there’s a lot of uncertain- people who had a parent,
ty,” said Melanie Nezer, spouse, fiance, son, daugh-
spokeswoman for HIAS, a ter, son-in-law, daughter-in-
resettlement agency. “It’s law or sibling already in the
really going to depend on U.S.
how the administration re- Watson enlarged that
acts to this.” group to include grand-
Attorney General Jeff Ses- parents, grandchildren,
sions had said the admin- brothers-in-law, sisters-in-
istration would ask the Su- law, aunts, uncles, nieces,
preme Court to weigh in, nephews and cousins.q