Federal judge: Grandparents, extended relatives exempt from Trump travel ban

WASHINGTON — Grandparents and other extended relatives are exempt from President Donald Trump’s travel ban, a federal judge in Hawaii declared late Thursday, again stopping the administration from implementing the president’s controversial executive order in the way that it wants.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson wrote that the government’s “narrowly defined list” of who might be exempt was not supported by either the Supreme Court decision partially unfreezing the ban or by the law.

“Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents,” Watson wrote. “Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members. The Government’s definition excludes them. That simply cannot be.”

Watson wrote that refugees with an assurance from a resettlement agency could also be exempt from the ban.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement Friday that the Justice Department would “reluctantly return directly to the Supreme Court to again vindicate the rule of law and the executive branch’s duty to protect the nation.”

“Once again, we are faced with a situation in which a single federal district court has undertaken by a nationwide injunction to micromanage decisions of the coequal executive branch related to our national security,” Sessions said. “By this decision, the district court has improperly substituted its policy preferences for the national security judgments of the executive branch in a time of grave threats, defying both the lawful prerogatives of the executive branch and the directive of the Supreme Court.”

The Justice Department filed a “notice of appeal” — which lawyers view as a procedural step as they ultimately move the matter to the Supreme Court.

Justice Department lawyers claim federal law allows as much and that the Supreme Court still has jurisdiction in the case to clarify the order it issued.

Many justices left Washington to travel after their most recent term ended, but they often rule in emergencies when they are in different places. In the meantime, Department of Homeland Security and State Department spokesmen said their agencies were reviewing the decision with the Justice Department, and working on implementation of Watson’s decision.