Supreme Court has issued an order allowing full enforcement of President Donald Trump’s travel ban as two lower courts prepare to hear arguments on the policy this week.
The Washington Post reports that the order, which did not disclose the justice’s reasoning, will allow for full enforcement of the travel ban against residents of six mostly Muslim countries while legal challenges continue to proceed. Previously, two lower courts had blocked parts of the latest version of the travel ban, exempting travelers with a “bona fide” connection to relatives in the United States, such as grandparents, aunts or uncles, or U.S. institutions.
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is set to consider Hawaii’s challenge to the policy on Wednesday, while the entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond will consider a Maryland judge’s order regarding the policy on Friday.
This latest version of the travel ban is the third iteration of the policy, which was issued in late September. It applies to Chad, North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia, dropping Sudan, which had been included in earlier versions of the order.
"Security adjustments rooted in legitimate concerns will always be a fact of life for travelers,” said U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President for Public Affairs Jonathan Grella of the new policy when it was first released. “It's essential that changes be clearly communicated and that there be both an incentive and a pathway for affected countries to bring themselves back into compliance, and the Department of Homeland Security and State Department have been doing a good job checking those boxes.
"The American travel community continues to feel that both security and economic objectives could benefit from a clear message that these policy moves are tailored to specific issues. The world needs to know that they are not intended to discourage travel generally, and that legitimate business and leisure travelers are as welcome as ever in the United States," Grella said.
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