Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and travelers from six mainly Muslim countries went into effect late Thursday, after a Supreme Court decision allowed it to go forward following a five-month battle with rights groups.
The Trump administration says the temporary ban is necessary to block terrorists from entering the country, but immigrant advocates charge that it illegally singles out Muslims.
The 90-day ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and a 120-day ban on refugees, will allow exceptions for people with “close family relationships” in the United States.
But activists said the government has defined that too narrowly, excluding relationships with grandparents and grandchildren, aunts and uncles and others.
People took part in a rally to protest the restrictive guidelines issued by the US on who qualifies as a close family relation under the Supreme Court order on the Muslim and refugee ban at Union Square on June 29, 2017, in New York. US President Donald Trump’s five-month effort to implement a promised ban on travelers from six mostly Muslim countries and on all refugees takes effect late Thursday, July 29, 2017 as controversy swirls over who qualifies for an exemption based on family ties.
