Judge’s travel ban ruling is appealed to high court

Following the latest victory in its court battle over immigration, Hawaii is now preparing to lock horns again with the Trump administration over its partial travel ban.

U.S. government attorneys Friday filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court one day after U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson toppled much of the administration’s refugee ban and expanded the list of family relationships needed by people seeking to enter the country from six mostly Muslim countries.

Under Watson’s order, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins qualify as having a “bona fide relationship” that is an exception to the travel ban.

In its appeal, the U.S. Justice Department said Watson’s reading of the Supreme Court’s ruling on what family relationships qualify refugees and visitors from the six Muslim-majority countries to enter the U.S. “empties the court’s decision of meaning, as it encompasses not just ‘close’ family members, but virtually all family members,” adding, “Treating all of these relationships as ‘close familial relationship(s)’ reads the term ‘close’ out of the court’s decision.”

Only the Supreme Court can decide these issues surrounding the travel ban, according to the Justice Department. “Only this court can definitively settle whether the government’s reasonable implementation is consistent with this court’s stay,” it said.

Earlier, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed to leapfrog the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which previously upheld Watson’s injunction, and go directly to the high court.

In a statement, Sessions criticized Watson for undermining national security, delaying “necessary action,” creating confusion and violating “a proper respect” for separation of powers.

“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 co-equal executive branch related to our national security. By this decision, the district court has improperly substituted its policy preferences for that of the executive branch, defying both the lawful prerogatives of the executive branch and the directive of the Supreme Court,” Sessions said.

“The Supreme Court has had to correct this lower court once, and we will now reluctantly return directly to the Supreme Court to again vindicate the rule of law and the executive branch’s duty to protect the nation,” he said.

But Hawaii Attorney General Douglas Chin countered that it is false for Sessions to say that the Supreme Court has corrected this federal court or any of the lower federal courts in this case.

“On the contrary, a 6-3 majority kept in place Judge Watson’s nationwide injunction, issued a partial stay barring people with no connection to the United States from entry, and set arguments on the substantive issues in October,” he said.

Chin added, “We are prepared to respond to the Trump administration’s appeals.”

Watson’s ruling won praise from civil rights advocates in Hawaii.

“We’re very glad the court in Hawaii is holding the administration accountable,” said Mateo Caballero, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii.

Caballero said there are people abroad with connections to Hawaii — grandpas, cousins, etc. — who want visas to come here for family events. What’s more, there are those who might want to come to the islands to study at the University of Hawaii, he said.

“I’m very pleased that once again common sense prevails over policies that make no sense,” said Hakim Ouansafi, chairman of the Muslim Association of Hawaii.

Ouansafi said President Donald Trump’s original executive order had nothing to do with making the country safer.

“It was about delivering on a campaign promise to stop Muslims for coming to the United States,” he said.

He said he’s confident the Supreme Court will agree that grandparents and grandchildren are indeed close family members.

“We have already won,” Ouansafi said. “Even the most powerful man with the most powerful pen cannot impose something that is unconstitutional.”

Under Watson’s order, refugees formally working with resettlement agencies in the United States would be allowed into the country. If upheld, the order could help more than 24,000 refugees who had already been vetted but were barred by a 120-day freeze on refugee admissions, according to refugee agency officials quoted in an Associated Press story.