Hawaii Federal Judge Exempts Grandparents, Relatives From Trump’s Travel Ban

In a setback for President Donald Trump’s travel ban, a Hawaii federal judge ruled Thursday grandparents and relatives, other than immediate family members of the U.S. citizens, should be exempt from the travel ban, according to multiple reports.

Trump’s travel ban bars people from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. Trump imposed the ban on the six nations — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen in January.

Read : List Of Legal Challenges Trump's Travel Ban Executive Order Has Faced So Far

District Judge Derrick Watson ruled the government’s list of relatives to bypass the travel ban should be expanded to include grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and other relatives, the Washington Post reported.

Announcing his decision, the judge said the government’s classification of close family “represents the antithesis of common sense." "Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members are defined to include grandparents. Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members. The government’s definition excludes them. That simply cannot be,” he wrote in his ruling.

A CNN report added the ruling also exempted the refugees who had been given a formal assurance by a resettlement agency promising them asylum in the U.S.

“An assurance from a United States refugee resettlement agency, in fact, meets each of the Supreme Court's touchstones: it is formal, it is a documented contract, it is binding, it triggers responsibilities and obligations, including compensation, it is issued specific to an individual refugee only when that refugee has been approved for entry by the Department of Homeland Security, and it is issued in the ordinary course, and historically has been for decades. Bona fide does not get any more bona fide than that,” Watson ruled.

Read : Trump Travel Ban 2.0: Hawaii Judge Refuses To Limit His Order On Revised Travel Ban

In his executive order, the president had set a limit on the intake of refugees in the U.S. at 50,000. However, the limit was exceeded Wednesday. The State Department said the refugees scheduled to enter the U.S. were admitted “to ensure an orderly, effective implementation of the 50,000 cap.” However, the number of people entering the U.S. since October increased to 50,086, the Post reported. The limit of refugee intake set by Trump is half the number sanctioned by former President Barack Obama’s administration.

Meanwhile, in order to get Watson’s ruling lifted, Trump administration would now have to appeal to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals or the president can even appeal to the Supreme Court for an alteration in the ruling.

In March, Watson ordered a halt on Trump’s travel ban stating there “was significant and unrequited evidence of religious animus" behind the travel ban.