A judge partially lifted Trump's refugee ban, saying it harms America's interests

A man holds a sign that reads 'Welcome Refugees' on one side and 'Welcome Muslims' on the other as he walks the International Arrivals section at Los Angeles International Airport on June 29,
(Image credit: AFP Contributor/Getty Images)

A federal judge on Saturday partially blocked President Trump's suspension of refugee admissions from 11 countries, nine of which are majority-Muslim: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. After hearing arguments Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Robart ruled that refugee applications must be processed for those with "a bona fide relationship to a person or entity within the United States."

The Trump administration claimed the ban "is a reasonable and appropriate way for agency heads to tackle gaps" in vetting procedure, but Robart said vetting is already rigorous and that the ban will "harm the United States' national security and foreign policy interests."

The Justice Department said in a statement it "disagree[s] with the court's ruling and [is] currently evaluating the next steps." In the meantime, read The Week's Shikha Dalmia on why the Trump administration's travel restrictions are nonsensical.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.