Judge rules grandparents are exempt from Trump's travel ban

A federal judge in Hawaii ruled Thursday that the Trump administration cannot stop grandparents and other close relatives from entering the United States under the president's travel ban.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump's 90-day travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority nations and 120-day refugee ban could go through, as long as it was not enforced against travelers who had a "bona fide relationship" with a person or entity in the United States. The Trump administration decided that only spouses, parents, children, siblings, and fiancés counted as close family members, and the state of Hawaii requested an injunction, arguing that this was too narrow of a list. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson agreed, saying "common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents. Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members."

On Twitter, an attorney for the state of Hawaii, Neal Katyal, called the ruling a "sweeping victory," Reuters reports.

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