Judge rules grandparents, other relatives exempt from travel ban

UPDATE: Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday said the Trump administration will appeal Watson’s decision directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (8:23 a.m.): A federal judge in Hawaii on Thursday ruled grandparents and other family members should be excluded from the Trump administration’s travel ban on people from six predominantly Muslim countries. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson’s order prevents the government from enforcing the travel ban on grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and cousins of people already in the United States. The Supreme Court ruled last month the government could not include people with a “bona fide relationship” to a U.S. citizen in the travel ban. The government interpreted that to mean parents, siblings, and children, but Watson ruled for an expansion. “Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents,” Watson said. “Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members.” The ruling is the latest travel ban setback. Courts blocked the administration’s first and second bans before the Supreme Court partially reinstated it in June.