Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The president’s limited travel ban could go into effect as early as Thursday morning, 72 hours after the Supreme Court ruling.
The Department of Homeland Security and State Department are operating under that 72-hour window and aiming to implement the limited ban on Thursday. There are no plans to delay implementation.
Lawyers from the Justice, State and Homeland Security departments are still working to define “bona fide relationship” and make sure the implementation of the order will be in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling. The Supreme Court said the ban could go forward with an exception for people who have “any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”
When President Trump signed his first executive order restricting travel, there was widespread confusion over who was permitted to enter the country. Visa-holders at airports were detained, d immigration lawyers scrambled to get them released and admitted into the country. None of this is expected to happen on Thursday.
Part of the reason is that anyone from one of the six countries who has already been issued a visa will be allowed to enter, according to a State Department official. No visas have been canceled by the ruling, and any refugee who is scheduled to be resettled before July 6 will be allowed to enter.
Homeland Security will also work with its components –primarily Customs and Border Protection, which screens travelers and inspects travel documents, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which has a part in refugee screening — on processes and procedures for implementation, according to a DHS official.
No visa interviews have been canceled either. That means that until Thursday at 10:30 a.m. ET, the State Department could even grant new visas to individuals in the six countries without asking them to prove a “bona fide relationship.”
After the 72-hour window closes, consular officers granting visas for the six countries will then begin asking applicants to prove a “bona fide relationship.” For refugees scheduled for resettlement after July 6, the State Department is still determining what will happen.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday, “We want travelers or prospective travelers to know exactly what they may or may not be facing, so we’ll get that information out.”
While the White House may avoid the airport turmoil from January, there will likely still be legal disarray, with lawsuits about that key term and questions about how far along a family tree it extends.
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