Supreme Court Further Restricts Enforcement of Trump Administration Travel Ban

In a brief, unsigned Opinion today, the United States Supreme Court allowed a lower court’s restrictions on the Trump Administration’s travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries to remain in place. The Supreme Court had previously allowed parts of the travel ban to go into effect, but ruled that it could not be enforced against persons with close family ties in the United States.

The Trump Administration adopted a narrow interpretation of this language, defining “close family members” as only including parents, spouses, fiancés, children, siblings, sons-in-law, or daughters-in-law. The U.S. District Court in Hawaii ruled that this interpretation was too restrictive, and ordered the definition broadened to include grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law. The Trump Administration requested an expedited ruling from the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court ruling, but the Supreme Court declined to intervene. Thus, for now, the expanded definition from the lower court remains in place.

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