Washington D.C., Sep 14, 2017 / 13:58 pm
As the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed part of President Donald Trump's travel ban to stand temporarily, the U.S. bishops' conference sympathized with the refugees affected by the ban.
"We were disappointed that those who were already assured and really all cleared and ready to come as refugees were not allowed to come during this period," Matt Wilch of the Office of Migration and Refugee Services at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops told CNA.
The application of the travel ban that was upheld by the court Sept. 12 would affect refugees who had received a "formal assurance" of resettlement from an agency in the U.S., probably numbering more than 20,000, Wilch said. These refugees would be currently unable to travel to the U.S. on that condition.
That application of the travel restrictions in Trump's executive order on immigration had been halted from going into effect in a recent decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.