President Donald Trump’s recently implemented travel ban has now been narrowed by a federal judge in Hawaii who ordered that grandparents of U.S. citizens cannot be banned from entering the country.
Grandparents, along with other relatives, had been banned by Trump’s travel ban which took effect in late June of 2017. The ban was implemented after a U.S. Supreme Court decision on June 26th. The ban excluded people who have a “bona fide relationship” to a U.S. person or entity. The Trump administration defined a “bona fide relationship” to mean parents, spouses, children and siblings and fiancés. Grandparents and other relatives were initially banned until U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson ordered that grandparents cannot be banned.
“Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents. Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members,” Watson wrote.
Following Watson’s decision, the Trump administration said they have appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The nation’s highest court has since given Watson until Tuesday June 18th to respond to the Trump administration’s appeal. After hearing from both sides the Supreme Court will likely issue a ruling on whether grandparents should be included or excluded from the ban.
The justices have also agreed to hear arguments for and against the full travel ban in October of this year.