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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to put on hold a judge's ruling modifying the Trump administration's travel ban on immigrants from six majority-Muslim nations.
The department filed the request for a stay with the court of appeals on Saturday while the U.S. Supreme Court considers its appeal of a ruling by a federal court judge in Hawaii.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson ordered the government to allow in refugees formally working with a resettlement agency in the United States. His order also vastly expanded the list of U.S. family relationships that refugees and visitors from six Muslim-majority countries can use to get into the country, including grandparents and grandchildren.
On Friday night, the Justice Department filed an appeal of Watson's ruling. It said the judge's interpretation of the Supreme Court's ruling "empties the court's decision of meaning, as it encompasses not just 'close' family members, but virtually all family members."(backslash)
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This story has been corrected to say that the Justice Department is asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — not the U.S. Supreme Court — for the stay.
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