Supreme court retains expanded list of exemptions from Trump travel ban

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a federal judge's decision to expand the list of relatives who are exempted in President Donald Trump's executive order banning visitors from six Muslim-majority countries.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson issued a ruling exempting grandparents and other relatives of U.S. citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from acquiring visas under the travel ban. He also ordered the government to allow refugees formally working with a U.S. resettlement agency to enter the country.

The Trump administration asked the high court last Friday to overturn Watson's ruling, which limited the scope of Trump's travel ban.

On Wednesday, the justices blocked Watson's order as it applies to refugees, but upheld the federal judge's expanded list of relatives.

According to The Associated Press, the Supreme Court decision affects 24,000 refugees who already have been assigned to a charity or religious organization in the U.S.

"This ruling jeopardizes the safety of thousands of people across the world including vulnerable families fleeing war and violence," said Naureen Shah, Amnesty International USA's senior director of campaigns.

The brief order stated that the court's decision is only temporary as the San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considers a separate case on the same issue.

The latest round in the fight over Trump's executive order began after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to partially reinstate the 90-day ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority countries and a 120-day ban on refugees from anywhere in the world.

The court's ruling had exempted people with a "bona fide relationship" with a person or an entity in the U.S., but the justices did not define those relationships.

The administration had narrowly interpreted the ruling, saying the ban would apply to grandparents and other family members, prompting the state of Hawaii to ask Watson to expand the definition of relatives who could be admitted to the country.

The exemption from the travel ban had previously applied only to parents, spouses, fiances, sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law or siblings. Watson added grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins to the list of relatives that could be allowed to enter the U.S.

The State Department has already instructed diplomats to use the expanded list when considering visa applicants from the six countries.

Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas stated last month that they would have allowed the travel ban to take full effect, and the same three justices also would have blocked Watson's order in its entirety.

The Supreme Court announced that it has scheduled oral arguments regarding the lawfulness of the travel ban for Oct. 10, though the 90-day pause will have expired by that time.