Story highlights Grandparents and others now count as sufficiently close family relationships

The Trump administration can appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court

(CNN) In a victory for challengers of the Trump administration's travel ban, a federal court judge late Thursday agreed once again to partially halt the ban of certain foreign nationals from six predominantly Muslim countries on a nationwide basis -- a direct rebuke to the government's attempt to limit the close family members allowed in the US.

Most specifically, Thursday's decision means that "grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins of persons in the United States" will now count as sufficiently close family relationships to gain entry into the country.

The Supreme Court ruled late last month that the administration could employ the travel ban against foreign nationals who lack any "bona fide" relationship to a person or entity in the US, but the state of Hawaii said the administration had wrongfully interpreted that to exclude close family, such as grandparents.

The countries affected are Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia.

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