ACLU Comment on Muslim Ban Interim Ruling on Refugees and Family Members

NEW YORK — A federal appeals court ruled that grandparents, uncles, aunts, and other family members of people in the U.S., and refugees with assurances from resettlement organizations, are exempt from the government’s Muslim ban as litigation proceeds. The government has said it will seek Supreme Court review.

Today’s Ninth Circuit ruling finds that the government was incorrect to ban the family members and refugees following a June stay order from the Supreme Court that allowed the ban to go partially into effect while cases challenging the ban, including Trump v. IRAP, are pending. The American Civil Liberties Union and National Immigration Law Center represented HIAS and the International Refugee Assistance Project as amici in this case.

Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, had this reaction:

“The Trump administration is hell-bent on slamming the gates shut on Americans’ close family members, as well as thousands of refugees who had successfully reached the end of a long vetting process, and were on the cusp of making a new life in the United States with the assistance of refugee resettlement organizations, congregations, and communities around the country. The government has repeatedly been told by the courts that its actions are improper, but it keeps trying. It’s obvious that prejudice and anti-immigrant cruelty are among this administration’s highest priorities and that it is willing to trample on the law and Constitution to achieve them. We will fight the administration every step of the way.”

The ruling is at: http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/general/2017/09/07/17-16426%20Opinion%20Filed.pdf