Business Immigration Insights

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration two victories in connection with Executive Order No. 13780, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” commonly known as the “Travel Ban.”

First, the Supreme Court granted the government’s petition for certiorari.  By doing so, the Supreme Court has agreed to review the preliminary injunctions upheld by the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and Ninth Circuits and to hear the case during the first session of the October 2017 term.

Second, the Supreme Court partially granted the government’s request to stay the preliminary injunctions upheld by the Fourth and Ninth Circuits.  After weighing the burdens imposed by the Executive Order on persons or entities in the United States against the government’s interest in preserving national security, the Supreme Court held that:

1. Entry to the United States is suspended for 90 days for nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who have no connection to the United States.  The ban will not affect nationals of those countries who have a “bona fide relationship” with a person or entity in the United States.  If the relationship is with a person, it must be a close familial relationship.  If with an entity, the relationship must be formal, documented and formed in the ordinary course and not created to evade the travel restriction, such as students who are admitted to U.S. universities, workers who have accepted job offers from U.S. entities, or lecturers who have been invited to address a U.S. audience.
2. The government is required to adjudicate all applications for refugee status, even if the 50,000 person cap has been reached or exceeded, if such refugee can credibly claim a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States, as described above

We will update this entry as more information is available.