Ruling also protects refugees with resettlement to U.S. approved

By Miriam Raftery

July 13, 2017 (San Francisco) – Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could prohibit travelers from six mostly Muslim countries, provided that people with close family members or other ties to the U.S. are allowed to enter. But now federal judge Derick Watson has ruled that the Trump administration’s interpretation of close family was too narrow. 

The court held that grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sister-s in law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins of people in the U.S. should be allowed entry, in addition to parents, children and siblings already allowed to enter.

By Miriam Raftery

April 10, 2017 (San Diego) – Immigration attorney Steven Riznyk, CEO at San Diego Biz Law, was a guest on our East County Magazine Radio Show aired on March 24^th on KNSJ Radio.  (Listen to our interview by clicking the audio link.)   He offered important advice in the wake of President Donald Trump’s travel ban, speaking about little-known provisions that could lead to deportations or refusal to readmit some travelers with green cards or visas who leave the U.S. on vacation or business travel.

By Miriam Raftery

February 9, 2017 (Seattle) – In a unanimous verdict in State of Washington v. Trump, a three-judge panel on the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against President Donald Trump and refused to reinstate a travel ban on refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim nations.  That means admission to the U.S. will resume for refugees  and for immigrants who are citizens of of Iran, Iraq, Libya Sudan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as green card holders with permanent residency in the U.S.

In their decision, the judges wrote, “The Government has pointed to no evidence that any alien from any of the countries named in the Order has perpetrated a terrorist attack in the United States. Rather than present evidence to explain the need for the Executive Order, the Government has taken the position that we must not review its decision at all. We disagree…”

By Miriam Raftery, Editor, East County Magazine

Hear our interview for KNSJ Radio by clicking the audio link

February 1, 2017(San Diego) – To learn the impacts of President Donald Trump’s executive action restricting refugee s’ entry into the United States,  we interviewed International Rescue Committee Executive Director David Murphy and Kathi Anderson, Executive Director at Survivors of Torture.

The order has created “fear for a lot of people” in San Diego, long a welcoming haven for refugees starting with the airlifts of Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s, says Murphy.  San Diego County takes in 3 to 4 percent of  all the refugees accepted into the U.S. each year.