This week seven Afghans and their families challenged the Trump administration in court over its broad application of the president’s “travel ban” to bar the families of Afghan asylees already in the country.

A federal lawsuit was filed in the the Eastern District of Virginia on October 21 listing the U.S. Department of State, Secretary Marco Rubio, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Kristi Noem, the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS), and its Director Joseph B. Edlow, and the United States as the defendants; and seven Afghans (their names withheld), with an additional 28 spouses and children between them, as the plaintiffs.

The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), alongside Williams & Connolly LLP and Keler & Kershow PLLC, is representing the plaintiffs. According to IRAP:

While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has approved the families for derivative asylum, [the Department of State] is refusing to issue them travel documents even after interviewing them, claiming it is complying with President Trump’s travel ban proclamation. However, the June 4 Proclamation explicitly does not apply to asylees or people seeking asylum.

In a June 4 proclamation, U.S. President Donald Trump resurrected one of the more controversial policies from his first administration, the so-called travel ban. The proclamation identified 12 states whose citizens are

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