WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Friday that the Justice Department will ask the Supreme Court to block a judge's ruling that prevented President Donald Trump's travel ban from being applied to grandparents of U.S. citizens and refugees already being processed by resettlement agencies. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson ruled late Thursday in favor of the state of Hawaii’s motion to overrule the Trump administration’s definition of “bona fide relationship.” This allows grandparents and other distant relatives of American residents to arrive in the country as refugees from any country and travelers from six Middle Eastern countries temporarily banned from arriving in the United States under Executive Order 13780. (SBU) The Supreme Court’s partial lifting of the preliminary

injunctions allows the E.O.’s suspension to be enforced only against foreign

nationals who lack a “bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the

United States.” Therefore, applicants who are nationals of the affected

countries who are determined to be otherwise eligible for visas and to have a

credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the

United States are exempt from the suspension of entry in the United States as

described in section 2(c) of the E.O. The administration had narrowly interpreted that language, saying the ban would apply to grandparents and other family members, prompting the state of Hawaii to ask Hawaii-based U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson to expand the definition of who could be admitted. Justice Department attorney Brad Rosenberg disagreed, arguing in court documents filed in the District of Hawaii Tuesday that the court lacks enforcement or modification authority. The Justice Department has not yet indicated whether it will appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has handed the Trump administration multiple defeats on its ban over the past six months. Earlier on Friday, White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert told reporters that the ruling appeared to be “fairly broad and something that would trouble me if it was as broad as reported.”

Bossert, speaking aboard Air Force One as the president returned from a trip to Paris, focused his remarks on the part of the ruling that would allow more refugees to enter the country, saying the ruling could be interpreted as “so expansive as to cover every refugee.”

In his decision, Watson harshly criticized the government’s definition of close family relations as “the antithesis of common sense.”

Watson also ruled that the assurance by a resettlement agency to provide basic services to a newly arrived refugee constitutes an adequate connection to the United States because it is a sufficiently formal and documented agreement that triggers responsibilities and compensation. Watson, whose March 29 preliminary injuction in Hawaii v. Trump halting Section 2 (c) (the temporary travel ban) and Section 6 (the temporary refugee ban) of Executive Order 13780, signed by President Trump on March 6, was partially overturned by the Supreme Court in its unanimous June 26 decision is in effect daring the Supreme Court to overrule him again.
The Trump Administration asks the U.S. Supreme Court to stop implementation of yesterday's ruling by Hawaii District Judge Derrick Watson that expanded the State Department's definition of "close family" used to implement the Supreme Court's June order that permits admission to the U.S. of those with a bona fide relationship.