Hawaii has filed a court challenge to the Trump administration’s limitations on the family relationships people from six mostly Muslim countries need to claim to avoid a travel ban.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday exempted people from the ban if they can prove a “bone fide” relationship with a U.S. citizen or entity. The Trump administration had said the exemption would apply to citizens of Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen with a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling already in the U.S.
The travel ban came into effect Thursday night.
Hawaii filed an emergency motion Thursday asking a federal judge to clarify that the administration cannot enforce the ban against fiancés or relatives not defined by the administration guidelines.
Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin says he’s concerned the Trump administration may be violating the U.S. Supreme Court’s travel ban ruling, saying many of the people that the federal government decided to exclude are considered “close family” in Hawaii.
A federal judge in Hawaii is expected to issue a ruling on Hawaii’s motion asking for clarification that the administration can’t enforce the ban against fiancés or relatives not defined by the administration guidelines.
The U.S. State Department’s website says fiancés qualify as close family under the Supreme Court ruling.
*with a file from Reuters