A limited version of President Donald Trump's executive order freezing refugee arrivals and travel from six majority-Muslim countries went into effect Thursday evening to a much more subdued reception in Minnesota than two earlier rollout attempts.
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the order's implementation — but only for those without a "bona fide relationship" to a person or organization in the United States. On Thursday, the government spelled out its definition of such a relationship. Spouses, siblings, children and parents of U.S. citizens will be able to travel, and late in the day, fiancés and fiancées were added to that list. But grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews are excluded.
The ban prompted several protests nationwide Thursday night, including one by about 30 people in front of the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis.
Like its predecessors, the revised ban is also certain to face legal challenges. Late Thursday, Hawaii asked a court to clarify the ban's scope, saying the latest restrictions go further than the U.S. Supreme Court allowed. Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said many of the people that the federal government aims to exclude are considered "close family" in Hawaii.
Local attorneys and others say most refugees and other travelers to Minnesota have close family ties and won't be affected by the travel suspension, which will last four months for refugees and 90 days for nationals of Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Iran and Yemen. Because the order does not affect those who secured visas by Thursday, the rollout was uneventful at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and other points of entry.
But the administration's relatively narrow definition of family ties means some bound for Minnesota will see their travel plans delayed, and it inspired vows from advocacy groups to challenge it in court.
The new rules are themselves the product of months of legal wrangling.
One week after taking office, Trump shut down travel from seven mostly Muslim countries, including Iraq, and blocked entry by all refugees, saying that a "pause" was necessary to evaluate the vetting of visitors from places that the government deemed dangerous.