Judge says Trump administration can't use travel ban to keep 80 refugees out of the US

Source: AP

Updated 2:37 PM EDT, July 15, 2025


A federal judge barred the Trump administration from using its ban on travelers from some countries to keep 80 already-vetted refugees from entering the United States.

In a decision late Monday, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle said President Donald Trump’s June order banning the entry of people from 12 countries “expressly states” that it does not limit the ability of people to seek refugee status.

The order, dubbed “Proclamation 10949—Restricting The Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” includes a provision that says nothing in it “shall be construed to limit the ability of an individual to seek asylum, refugee status, withholding of removal, or protection under the CAT, consistent with the laws of the United States.”

In his ruling, Whitehead said “by its plain terms, the Proclamation excludes refugees from its scope.” Barring refugees from entering the U.S. would limit their ability to seek refugee status and therefore run counter to the Republican president’s order, the judge added.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-travel-ban-refugees-lawsuit-44ff62623ac10ef287710f0ebcf5904b