U.S. Supreme Court partially unblocked Trump`s travel ban

The US supreme court lifted significant elements of lower court orders blocking the president’s controversial travel ban targeting visa applicants from six Muslim-majority countries.

Supreme court said the 90-day ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, along with a 120-day suspension of the US refugee resettlement program, could be enforced against those who lack a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States”.

This means that individuals from the affected countries who have family in the US, or legitimate work or educational reasons for travel, should not be included in the revamped ban, a huge contingent of those who would have otherwise been affected.

The new ban also will not apply to those who already have a valid visa to enter the US, unlike the original ban, which left otherwise credentialed passengers stranded at airports worldwide, sparking outrage and protests.

Prospective tourists from the six outlined countries with no family connections to the US are the most likely to be affected by the ban, as well as refugees fleeing violence in the region, especially from the civil war in Syria.

Who decides what constitutes a bona fide relationship?

The Trump state department would make this determination, so the exact criteria it uses merits watching as the ban rolls out this summer.

Source: The Guardian