Donald Trump’s revised travel ban is causing turmoil in the courts once again, as one US judge granted asylum to a Syrian refugee’s family, while another declined to rule on the latest version.
District Judge James Robart has come under criticism for claiming that a complaint or motion needs to be filed against the new executive order before he can make a decision.
After a public outcry against the original ban, the Seattle-based judge ruled in February that Mr Trump's executive was unconstitutional, stopping it from being implemented across the country.
But Judge Robart said he would not be able to rule on the second ban until lawyers filed the appropriate paperwork.
Nevertheless, a judge in Wisconsin has already circumnavigated Mr Trump’s travel ban by allowing the wife and child of a Syrian refugee who had already been granted asylum to enter the country.
The president’s latest executive order, issued on March 6, removed Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens will be subject to a 90-day travel ban, but Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan all remain banned.
At a glance | Donald Trump’s immigration ban
On Monday 6 March 2017, President Trump signed an executive order temporarily blocking travel for immigrants from six Muslim-majority countries.
The order imposed a 90-day ban on travellers from:
Syria
Sudan
Libya
Somalia
Yemen
Iran
Additionally, it suspended the US refugee programme for 120 days and subsequently the US will not accept more than 50,000 refugees in a year, down from the 110,000 cap set by the Obama administration.
Previous travel ban
The new order will take effect on 16 March in order to avoid the chaos attending the order’s first version. President Trump’s first travel ban, in January 2017, was brought in with little notice and saw travellers with valid visas detained when they landed. The new order will also explicitly not apply to green card holders from these countries.
In part because of these issues, President Trump’s first attempt to bring in the legislation was overturned by US courts in February.
The Syrian husband, who has been in the US since 2014, applied for asylum for his family to join him but the process was halted by Mr Trump’s initial executive order.
District Judge William Conley, who had been appointed by president Barack Obama, overruled Mr Trump’s travel ban, explaining that the family would face “significant risk of irreparable harm” if they stayed in Syria.
Although the judge’s ruling to bar Mr Trump’s second travel ban only applies to the Syrian family, it is is thought to be the first of many legal challenges that will be presented to the courts before the executive order comes into force on March 16.
SOURCE: Telegraph
