AG Ferguson asks US Supreme Court to exclude grandparents from travel ban

SEATTLE -- Washington state joined a coalition of other states, including Hawaii and Maryland, Tuesday challenging the Trump administration's interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the travel ban involving six Muslim countries.

In June,  the high court ruled that people with grandparents in the United States and refugees working with resettlement agencies should be exempt from the ban.

The ruling came after the Supreme Court said that people with a "bona fide connection" to a person in the U.S. could still enter the country.

The Trump administration interpreted that ruling to not include grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives.

“It’s common sense that grandparents, grandchildren, and others are close family. I am asking the court to reject the federal government’s effort to continue enforcing its overly restrictive interpretation,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.

The district court sided with challengers who said it should include grandparents last week.

The White House then asked the Supreme Court to put that ruling on hold.

Lawyers from Hawaii filed new papers Tuesday asking the justices to leave the lower court's decision in place.