A federal judge said the Trump administration unlawfully paused immigration benefits for “countless” people living in the U.S. from dozens of countries, putting their lives in “indeterminate legal limbo.” The 135-page ruling struck down four Trump administration policies, including a global asylum hold; a benefits hold on work permits, green cards, and naturalizations; a comprehensive review policy to look at already-decided cases; and the country-specific ban. If your clients from affected nations have pending immigration applications, this ruling directly reopens their cases for processing.
What changed
On Friday, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from freezing work permits, green cards, citizenship applications and other immigration benefits for noncitizens from 39 countries affected by the government’s travel bans. The 135-page ruling opens the door for hundreds of thousands of people with pending immigration-related applications to have these benefits unpaused.
Last year, the administration indefinitely suspended asylum adjudications and froze immigration applications for people who fell under the travel ban, among other measures, leaving millions of immigrants in the United States in legal limbo. The judge said USCIS needs to restart application processing for all immigrants impacted by the pause, and the agency can no longer rely on the blanket policies.
The court found 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 that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making.”
Why it matters
For practitioners, this ruling is immediately actionable. The ruling does not guarantee outcomes for applicants, only that their cases will be processed. This means USCIS adjudicators must now adjudicate on the merits rather than leave pending applications frozen indefinitely.
The judge wrote: “The challenged policies placed the lives of countless individuals on hold—solely by virtue of their countries of birth. Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status, and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures.” For your clients, this signals that the freeze is no longer a valid basis for delay and work permit or green card delays tied solely to country origin should now be challenged.
Last year’s USCIS rule changes led to the widespread cancellation of naturalization ceremonies for affected immigrants on the brink of getting their citizenship. Those ceremonies will now be rescheduled, thanks to McConnell’s ruling.
Way forward
- Identify affected clients: Review your active caseload for any I-485, I-539, N-400, or other applications filed by nationals of the 39 affected countries that have been pending since the freeze began.
- File administrative inquiries or motion to reopen: Contact USCIS via congressional inquiry or request case reopening on any application that was stalled under the pause. Projects fighting against the USCIS policies have encouraged applicants to put in congressional inquiries about their cases as the hold will not apply to them so long as this ruling stands.
- Monitor USCIS compliance: The agency may appeal or seek a stay of the ruling. Check the court docket in Dorcas Int’l Inst. of Rhode Island v. USCIS, D.R.I. No. 1:26-cv-00132, for any further orders.
- Advise clients on work authorization: If a client’s work permit expired during the freeze, they may now have grounds to request expedited re-approval or reinstatement under this ruling.
Disclaimer
This article summarizes a federal court ruling and is not legal advice. Immigration law is fact-specific, the ruling may be appealed, and USCIS’s compliance procedures are still unfolding. Consult a licensed immigration attorney before relying on this summary to advise a client or plan a filing strategy. Policy and court orders can change without notice; always verify the current status of the case and USCIS guidance at USCIS.gov and the court’s electronic docket.