Afghanistan Peace CampaignThe report noted that the families of these Afghan nationals had already been approved to enter the United States.
A U.S. federal court has ruled that travel restrictions imposed by the White House cannot prevent the families of Afghan refugees who supported U.S. forces in Afghanistan from reuniting with them in the United States.
The U.S. newspaper Stars and Stripes reported that a federal district judge has given the U.S. State Department 15 days to respond to a lawsuit filed by seven Afghan nationals.
According to Stars and Stripes: “U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga’s decision Wednesday gave the State Department 15 days to issue travel documents to the families of five of the seven refugee plaintiffs.”
The report noted that the families of these Afghan nationals had already been approved to enter the United States.
Under the court’s ruling, the U.S. State Department has also been ordered to review the cases of other Afghan families seeking reunification.
“The agency must also reconsider travel eligibility for the other relatives waiting to reunite with loved ones, and it was ordered to disregard the ban in its reassessment,” Trenga said.
The court also ordered the U.S. State Department to submit progress reports every two weeks until the families arrive in the United States.
The U.S. State Department has not yet commented on the ruling or indicated whether it plans to appeal.
The lawsuit was filed in the state of Virginia in October last year. The defendants include the U.S. government, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.