(NBC News) A federal judge in Hawaii has denied a motion filed by that state seeking to limit the scope of President Donald Trump’s so-called travel ban, parts of which were cleared to be implemented by the U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson said in a ruling Thursday in Honolulu that the Supreme Court is the proper venue to deal with the issue. Watson denied the request without prejudice to its re-filing with the Supreme Court.
Hawaii argued that the government’s plan for enforcing the executive order wrongly excluded grandparents and other relatives from the list of close family members who would still be able to get visas to travel to the United States during the 90 days while the executive order is in force. Government lawyers argued against broadening exceptions, as sought by Hawaii and others.
