On June 5, 2026, a federal judge in Rhode Island struck down four U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policies that had frozen asylum decisions, work permits, green cards, and citizenship for thousands of immigrants. Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island vacated the USCIS policies that have frozen immigration benefits for nationals of thirty-nine countries since late last year.
What changed
In a 135-page decision, he found that four USCIS policies were unlawful and ordered them vacated and set aside. The Benefits Hold Policy placed an indefinite hold on adjudication of all immigration benefit requests, including adjustment of status, employment authorization, and naturalization, filed by individuals from the thirty-nine Travel Ban Countries. The Global Asylum Hold Policy halted adjudication of all asylum and withholding of removal applications, regardless of the applicant’s country of origin.
The court held that all four challenged policies are unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act, declared them invalid, and set them aside. In a ruling harshly criticizing the administration, U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. said the policy “threw the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo,” and he accused the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of ignoring the law, writing that USCIS “claims statutory and regulatory authority that it does not possess; makes decisions without the reasoned explanations that it must provide; acts without regard for the reliance interests of applicants that it must consider; and justifies its actions with pretextual concerns of ‘national security’ that mask anti-immigrant sentiments.”
Why it matters
The Dorcas ruling is broader than earlier preliminary injunction wins; instead of ordering relief for a specific list of people, it strikes down the policies themselves. When a court vacates a policy under the Administrative Procedure Act, the policy is set aside rather than simply paused for the people who sued.
For practitioners, this means: USCIS must resume processing affected immigration applications. Green card and work permit cases that were paused can move forward. Naturalization ceremonies that were canceled or delayed must be rescheduled. U.S. District Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. found that USCIS could not withhold decisions across broad categories of asylum, work permit, green card, and citizenship applications based on an applicant’s country of origin.
The court rejected the government’s national-security rationale. The judge noted that the government made no argument at all as to why it was necessary to indefinitely suspend immigration benefits for countries as diverse as Cuba, Venezuela, and Nigeria just because of the violent acts of a person from Afghanistan.
Way forward
- Check pending cases immediately. Review your caseload for clients with applications from the 39 affected countries or asylum applicants whose cases were placed on hold. The freeze is now lifted.
- Reactivate dormant filings. For cases where adjudication was suspended, prepare to resubmit requests for status updates, request interviews, or advance pending approvals.
- Monitor for appeal. The Trump Administration is widely anticipated to appeal the decision and may request a stay pending appeal. Until then, the court’s order stands and should guide USCIS adjudications.
- Document the timeline. Track the date benefits adjudication resumes for each client to support future requests for processing time credits or case priority.
Disclaimer
This summary is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Fola is a software company, not a law firm. Immigration law is complex and fact-specific; consult a licensed immigration attorney about how this decision affects your individual case. Verify all information against the primary source and the full court opinion. USCIS policy can change without notice, and appellate proceedings may alter this outcome.