Supreme Court lets Trump administration reinstate travel ban restrictions on refugees but not on grandparents
Supreme Court justices said Wednesday that the Trump administration could temporarily reinstate restrictions on refugee resettlement, but that it could not limit the kinds of “close” family members exempt from a ban on visitors from six mostly Muslim countries.
Legal experts said the mixed directive was another sign that the court’s conservative wing is far from being in lockstep with the administration as it considers the case over the limits to executive power on immigration and national security.
The justices overruled a Hawaii federal judge less than a week after he said tens of thousands of refugees could come into the country despite President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which applies to refugees from any country.
But they agreed with the judge in saying that the government could not block close relatives, such as grandchildren who want to visit grandparents living in the U.S.
The high court’s one-paragraph order gave no reasoning for its decision, and said it was up to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to further consider which refugees and family members are included in the ban before justices hear arguments on the executive order Oct. 10.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have let the government further restrict the kinds of “close” family exempt from the ban. The same justices – considered the most conservative on the court – dissented from the court’s June decision to revive the travel ban with exceptions for certain travelers, saying the ban should be brought back without changes.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy are also conservatives, though Kennedy is considered a swing vote on the issue.
“We can certainly start to read the tea leaves,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “The most conservative of the conservatives on the court have been consistent on the travel ban. But three is not a majority.”