Status: In May 2024, the Court issued a permanent injunction that we had jointly negotiated and proposed with the government, clearing the path for the nearly 25,000 people who continued to be harmed by the Ban to submit a new visa at no cost and to obtain priority consideration in the consular review process.

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Case Overview

At the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump sought to ban individuals from several Muslim-majority countries from traveling to or immigrating to the United States. Lower courts repeatedly blocked the Muslim Ban, after which the Trump Administration would issue a new version seeking to evade the prior orders. The final iteration of the Ban—which was in place for most of the Trump presidency—included a provision which, in theory, was supposed to allow people to apply for a waiver of the Ban and to be considered for a visa.

However, the federal government denied waiver applications en masse and gave inconsistent explanations as to the eligibility standards for a waiver. NILC and co-counsel filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s implementation of the waiver provisions as arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful.

In January 2021, President Biden rescinded the Muslim Ban but his administration, including the State Department, failed to take adequate measures to provide relief to people who had been denied visas prior the Ban rescission. In August 2022, we successfully secured a court order declaring the Trump administration’s implementation of the waiver provisions unlawful. The court directed the parties to identify a remedy; however, the now Biden Administration refused to negotiate a class-wide remedy for people harmed by these policies.

At the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump sought to ban individuals from several Muslim-majority countries from traveling to or immigrating to the United States. Lower courts repeatedly blocked the Muslim Ban, after which the Trump Administration would issue a new version seeking to evade the prior orders. The final iteration of the Ban—which was in place for most of the Trump presidency—included a provision which, in theory, was supposed to allow people to apply for a waiver of the Ban and to be considered for a visa.

However, the federal government denied waiver applications en masse and gave inconsistent explanations as to the eligibility standards for a waiver. NILC and co-counsel filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s implementation of the waiver provisions as arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful.

In January 2021, President Biden rescinded the Muslim Ban but his administration, including the State Department, failed to take adequate measures to provide relief to people who had been denied visas prior the Ban rescission. In August 2022, we successfully secured a court order declaring the Trump administration’s implementation of the waiver provisions unlawful. The court directed the parties to identify a remedy; however, the now Biden Administration refused to negotiate a class-wide remedy for people harmed by these policies.

The government continued to slow walk the case and subject our Plaintiffs to a long, drawn-out process where they remained unable to enter the United States and, in many cases, separated from their families.

We pressed on and in March 2024, the Court allowed the case to become a class action lawsuit. In its decision, the Court severely critiqued the government’s behavior, characterizing it as “careless and obstructive” with the impact of “[hobbling] the fair administration of justice.” Only then did the government negotiate a remedy for our entire class.

In May 2024, the Court issued a permanent injunction that we had jointly negotiated and proposed with the government, clearing the path for the nearly 25,000 people who continued to be harmed by the Ban to submit a new visa at no cost and to obtain priority consideration in the consular review process.