Govt seeks change to judge order on Trump refugee ban

The Supreme Court was clear in its earlier order protecting refugees with bona fide relationships to the US from the last temporary refugee ban Mark Hetfield,

Seattle, Dec. 29: Lawyers with the Department of Justice have asked a federal judge to change his order that partially lifted a Trump administration refugee ban.

Just before Christmas, US district judge James Robart in Seattle imposed a nationwide injunction that blocks restrictions on reuniting refugee families and partially lifted a ban on refugees from 11 mostly Muslim countries. Robart limited that part of the injunction to refugees who have a bona fide relationship with people or entities in the United States.

He also said that refugees who have formal agreements with refugee resettlement agencies were covered under his order. The government does not want to include resettlement agencies.

Government lawyers filed a motion Wednesday saying that although the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has interpreted the “bona fide relationship” to include connections to resettlement agencies, the US Supreme Court has stayed that ruling. Attorneys for refugee support organisation HIAS and Jewish Family Service say the government’s claims are wrong.

“The Supreme Court was clear in its earlier order protecting refugees with bona fide relationships to the US from the last temporary refugee ban,” Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of New York- based HIAS, said Thursday.

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HIAS, CEO