State Attorney General Douglas Chin says the Trump Administration is using the wrong standard to decide who can be included in its partial travel ban of nationals from six mostly Muslim countries.

Chin’s comment is included in his reply to the government’s opposition to his request for clarification of who can be denied entry into the country while Trump’s overall ban is on appeal.

The U.S. Supreme Court said last week that the partial ban can include citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who lack a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States. The high court said a personal relationship must be a close familial one.

The government said it is relying on U.S. immigration law definitions to include grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and cousins in the partial ban. It is not denying entry of spouses; fiancees; children (minor, adult and in-law); parents (including in-laws); and whole, half- and step-siblings.

Chin said U.S. immigration law does not include a spouse’s parents as a qualified immigrant yet the Supreme Court specifically cited the relationship between Ishmail Elshikh and his mother-in-law as an example of a close familial one. Elshikh joined the state in challenging Trump’s travel ban.

Hawaii Reply Memo To Travel Ban Scope by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd