Federal judge in Hawaii declines to clarify scope of Trump travel ban

On Thursday, a federal judge in Hawaii denied a motion filed by the state seeking to clarify who is allowed to enter the United States under President Trump's partially reinstated travel ban.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that part of Trump's ban — which blocks entry over the next three months of people from six majority-Muslim countries and suspends the refugee resettlement program for six months — could be enforced, unless the people trying to get visas had a "bona fide relationship" with a person or entity in the United States. The Trump administration does not consider grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews "bona fide" relatives, and the state of Hawaii argued that the administration is wrong to exclude these relations from the list of close family members.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson ruled that because Hawaii is looking for "clarification of the June 26, 2017, injunction modifications authored by the Supreme Court, clarification should be sought there, not here." Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin said Watson did not rule on the merits of his request for clarification, and "whatever course it takes, we will get this resolved."

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