Trump's Muslim ban is now in effect

Visitors from six predominantly Muslim nations will be denied visas to the United States under new guidelines that take effect Jun 30, 01:00 AM WAT unless they can prove very close family ties to someone already in the country or an institution such as a workplace or university.

The relatives deemed sufficiently close family to exempt people from the travel ban, whether as visitors or refugees, are listed as a parent, spouse, child, an adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling, as well as their stepfamily counterparts. The exemption explicitly does not cover a number of other family relationships: grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, fiances and other “extended” family members.

Travelers holding visas who already have booked travel through at least July 6 should have no problems getting admitted, administration officials said. It is unclear what will happen to people with flight reservations on later dates.

But senior U.S. officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, at the administration's insistence, said they did not expect any confusion and that almost nobody should be denied entry under the new guidelines in the coming days.

"President Trump's directive might as well pull children out of the arms of their grandparents who will no longer be able to visit for the sole reason that they are Iranian," said Shayan Modarres, a lawyer with the National Iranian American Council.

"Defining close family to exclude grandparents, cousins, and other relatives defies common sense," said Johnathan Smith, legal director of Muslim Advocates, a civil rights group that plans to send monitors to Dulles International Airport on Thursday night.

Source: Washington Post