Travel ban irony

Back in the late 1980’s, I was a second lieutenant in the Air Force. My maternal grandfather died shortly after I arrived to my home base. Of course, I thought I’d be granted leave to go to his funeral. Not as easy as it should have been. Had to get “special permission” and the reason given to me was “grandparents are not immediate family.” Not kidding!

And now, I read of these three wise judges, who likely never served in the U.S. military, report in their unanimous ruling on the travel ban, “Stated simply, the government does not offer a persuasive explanation for why a mother-in-law is clearly a bona fide relationship … but a grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or cousin is not.”

One could argue that the aforementioned relations are “close.” According to the U.S. military, when I was active duty, apparently not. Appears, yet again, that immigrants, even illegal, get more leeway vs. born and raised citizens who have or have not served their country. Yes, my case was three decades ago. Does not change the fact that I think the powers that be in the courts have gone off the deep end.

Cheryl Henley

Spokane