Supreme Court allows stricter enforcement of Trump's travel ban, but rules in favor of exemptions for grandparents

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published 19 July 2017

The Supreme Court weighed in on President Trump's travel ban Wednesday, and the results were mixed for the White House.

The court put a hold on a ruling by U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson last week, which would have let more people enter the U.S. by extending the travel ban exemption to refugees being processed for resettlement. The Supreme Court's decision allows the Trump administration to more strictly enforce its ban by declining Watson's refugee exemption. The court also indicated the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals should now consider the matter.

However, the Supreme Court decided to stay a second part of Watson's ruling, which expanded the list of family relations exempted from the ban on visitors and refugees from six majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S. The court left Watson's expansion in place, which means that until the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issues a ruling on the case, Trump's travel ban will not apply to grandparents of U.S. citizens.