Trump's travel ban partially blocked by court

President Donald Trump’s 11-nation refugee ban was partially blocked by a judge who found that it violated federal rule-making requirements.

US District Judge James Robart in Seattle, who issued one of the earliest orders halting the president’s January travel ban, said in a ruling on Saturday that the Trump administration can continue to deny entry to refugees who don’t have ties to relatives or institutions in the US.

A worldwide suspension of refugee admissions was included in earlier versions of the president’s executive orders that were blocked by judges until the Supreme Court ruled in June that the restrictions could be enforced for immigrants lacking “bona fide relationships” to the US. 

The refugee ban —  which covers Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and North Korea — is now a separate directive from the 

restrictions on travellers.

Robart’s ruling comes a day after a San Francisco-based appeals court concluded that the restrictions on travelers from six mostly Muslim nations amounts is illegal discrimination.