US appeals court rules against broad interpretation of Trump’s travel ban

Trump's travel ban on people from some Muslim-majority countries suffers setback

Donald Trump with Amir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait as an appeals court ruled against the US president’s travel ban executive order. Photograph:  Alex Wong/Getty Images
Donald Trump with Amir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait as an appeals court ruled against the US president’s travel ban executive order. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

A US appeals court on Thursday ruled against US President Donald Trump’s effort to broadly enforce a temporary travel and refugee ban on people from certain Muslim-majority countries that the Republican president said was necessary for national security.

A three-judge 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel said that the government did not persuasively explain why the travel ban should be enforced against grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins from the six countries.

In the latest legal back and forth over the president’s controversial executive order, the court also said that refugee resettlement agencies have a “bona fide” relationship with refugees, which under a standard set by the US Supreme Court, should allow them into the United States.

Reuters