(Courthouse News) A federal judge on Monday refused to dismiss a class action claiming the Trump administration uses a sham travel ban waiver process to deny virtually all waiver-eligible immigrants from five Muslim-majority countries entry into the United States.
“Plaintiffs allege facts plausibly demonstrating that a de facto policy of blanket denials has usurped individualized waiver decisions,” U.S. District Judge James Donato wrote in his 19-page ruling.
Thirty-six plaintiffs sued the Trump administration in March 2018, claiming the government failed to follow its own guidelines and procedures for reviewing travel ban waiver requests as required by law. The plaintiffs are immigrants or family members of immigrants from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
