{"id":34720,"date":"2017-07-14T06:45:52","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T06:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=34720"},"modified":"2017-07-14T06:45:52","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T06:45:52","slug":"judge-hawaii-rules-grandparents-exempt-trump-travel-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/judge-hawaii-rules-grandparents-exempt-trump-travel-ban.html","title":{"rendered":"Judge in Hawaii rules grandparents are exempt from Trump travel ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judge in Hawaii rules grandparents are exempt from Trump travel ban<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Judge in Hawaii rules grandparents are exempt from Trump travel banl;- A federal judge in Hawaii has ruled that grandparents and other relatives should be exempt from the enforcement of President Trump\u2019s travel ban, which bars people from six Muslim-majority countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson ruled Thursday night that the federal government\u2019s list of family relatives eligible to bypass the travel ban should be expanded to include grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts and other relatives. Watson also ordered exemptions for refugees who have been given formal assurance from agencies placing them in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Watson\u2019s ruling, he said the government\u2019s definition of what constitutes close family \u201crepresents the antithesis of common sense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCommon sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents,\u201d Watson wrote. \u201cIndeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members. The Government\u2019s definition excludes them. That simply cannot be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The order delivered another legal hit to the president\u2019s travel ban and a \u201csweeping victory\u201d for those against it, as Neal Katyal, a lawyer for those challenging the measure, wrote. The ruling from Watson, a judge who has frequently been criticized by Trump and his administration for his unfavorable orders, marked yet another successful attempt by Hawaii to challenge the administration\u2019s executive order.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Supreme Court ruled late last month that the government could begin enforcing the travel restrictions, but not on people with \u201ca credible claim of a bona fide relationship\u201d with a person or entity in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Trump administration then decided to make exceptions for spouses, parents, parents-in-law, children, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, fiances and siblings of those already in the country. However, they barred grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.<\/span><\/p>\n

The government rolled out the measure on June 29, affecting travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. As part of the measure, officials could also block refugees with a formal assurance from a resettlement agency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hawaii had asked Watson to rule on the federal government\u2019s interpretation of the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling on Trump\u2019s executive order, arguing that the list of exemptions to the travel ban was too narrow.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his ruling, Watson wrote that modifying the scope of the ban is \u201cnecessary to preserve the status quo\u201d in regards to the government\u2019s definition of \u201cclose familial relationship.\u201d The government\u2019s use of specific, family-based visa restrictions \u201cconstitutes cherry-picking,\u201d and contradicts the Supreme Court\u2019s decision late last month, Watson wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watson also ordered exemptions for refugees that are members of the Lautenberg program, which allows certain nationals of the former Soviet Union and other countries with \u201cclose family in the United States\u201d to apply for refugee status. Refugees through this program were previously not exempt from the ban because the program includes grandparents and grandchildren as \u201cclose family,\u201d according to Watson\u2019s ruling.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also argued a refugee\u2019s assurance from an agency satisfies the Supreme Court\u2019s \u201cbona fide\u201d relationship requirement because of the formal, binding nature of the contract.<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of his executive order, Trump set a 50,000-person cap on refugee admissions, which the United States already surpassed on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Watson denied a similar request to curtail enforcement and clarify who is exempt from the ban, saying that he would not \u201cusurp the prerogative of the Supreme Court.\u201d But late Thursday night, he ruled that this time around, the plaintiffs had met their burden of establishing why legal relief was necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2017\/07\/14\/judge-in-hawaii-rules-grandparents-are-exempt-from-trump-travel-ban\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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