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US Supreme Court Allows Broad Trump Refugee Ban

by Reuters

   The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump to
   broadly implement a ban on refugees entering the country from around
   the world.

   The justices granted a request from the Trump administration to block a
   federal appeals court decision that, according to the Justice
   Department, would have allowed up to 24,000 additional refugees to
   enter the United States than would otherwise have been eligible.

   The Supreme Court ruling gives Trump a partial victory as the high
   court prepares for a key October hearing on the constitutionality of
   Trump's controversial executive order, which banned travelers from six
   Muslim-majority countries and limited refugee admissions.

   The March 6 order suspended travel for people from Iran, Libya,
   Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days and locked out most
   aspiring refugees for 120 days in a move the Republican president
   argued was needed to prevent terrorist attacks and allow the government
   to put in place more stringent vetting procedures.

   The order took effect in late June, following a Supreme Court ruling
   that narrowed the scope of lower court rulings.

   In a ruling last week, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said
   grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins of legal U.S. residents would
   be exempt from the travel ban.

   The Justice Department opted not to appeal that part of the 9th Circuit
   decision.

   However, the 9th Circuit also ruled that Trump's refugee policy was too
   broad, and the court allowed entry to refugees from around the world if
   they had a formal offer from a resettlement agency.

   The Justice Department appealed, and the full Supreme Court on Tuesday
   sided with the administration in a one-sentence order.

   Naureen Shah, Amnesty International USA's senior director of campaigns,
   said the refugee ban is inherently cruel.

   "The Supreme Court today has dealt yet another devastating blow to
   vulnerable people who were on the cusp of obtaining safety for
   themselves and their families," she said. "They continue to be
   subjected to unimaginable violence and fear while their lives are in
   limbo."

   Earlier on Tuesday the state of Hawaii, which challenged the policy,
   said in a court filing that the U.S. government could still "bar tens
   of thousands of refugees from entering the country." All the 9th
   Circuit ruling did is "protect vulnerable refugees and the American
   entities that have been eagerly preparing to welcome them to our
   shores," Hawaii's lawyers added.

   Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said he respected the Supreme Court's
   decision and is preparing for the hearing there on Oct. 10.