What cruel and twisted minds decided that grandparents don’t have a “close family relationship” with their grandkids? That’s how the State Department and Department of Homeland Security are implementing the Supreme Court’s partial reinstatement of Trump’s Muslim travel ban, which bars entry to people from six countries — Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen — who “lack a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”
According to the DHS FAQ put out June 29th, a “‘close family’ relationship includes: a parent (including parent-in-law), spouse, child, adult son or daughter, fiancé(e), son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and sibling, whether whole or half. This includes step relationships. However, “close family” does not include grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law and any other “extended” family members.” [emphasis added to highlight the absurdity]
Whoever made this cruel decision in the Trump administration needs to work out their family issues in therapy, instead of discriminating against and stigmatizing countless people based only on where they were born – in Muslim-majority countries where Trump does not do business.
These groups are fighting the Muslim Ban – volunteer or donate to help:
- Council on American-Islamic Relations
- #NoBanNoWallNoRaids
- Amnesty International’s #NoBanNoWall messaging toolkit with video, graphics, posters and social media samples
- Resistance Manual’s Muslim Ban page
- Five Calls direct action — call the State Department to expand the travel ban’s list of accepted family members.
By Heidi Rand
