Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell, presiding in Providence, Rhode Island, invalidated a range of policies created by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), stating they left individuals from various African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries in “indeterminate legal limbo.”
He noted that immigrants had followed the legal procedures set forth by Congress and adopted by USCIS, yet they were “stuck waiting for months on end for benefit requests that USCIS refuses to adjudicate.”
The judge, appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, indicated the policies were enacted without statutory and regulatory authority, driven instead by “anti-immigrant sentiments” that should not influence decision-making.
“USCIS’s hold on adjudications is not due to actions taken by these individuals; it results solely from the circumstances of their birth,” he stated.
This ruling represents a victory for a coalition of immigrant service organizations and labor unions that filed a lawsuit in March against the policies implemented by USCIS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“This ruling reaffirms a fundamental principle: the federal government cannot close off lawful immigration paths or discriminate against individuals based on their country of origin,” remarked Skye Perryman, leader of the liberal legal group Democracy Forward, which advocates for the plaintiffs.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not provide immediate comments regarding the ruling.
USCIS implemented these policies as part of a heightened immigration crackdown initiated by the Trump administration following a November incident involving two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., allegedly shot by an Afghan immigrant.
The accused, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, has entered a not guilty plea.
In response to this event, Trump pledged on social media to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” subsequently expanding the list of countries subjected to full or partial travel bans to 39.
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The countries facing complete travel bans included Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti, Somalia, Venezuela, and Syria. The administration justified these restrictions citing vetting and security concerns.
The USCIS policies placed a hold on processing immigration benefit applications for individuals from these 39 countries, a move McConnell stated “put the lives of countless individuals on hold—solely based on their countries of birth.”
“However, the rule of law must apply equally to everyone, and it is apparent here that USCIS has neither ‘followed the law’ nor ‘acted appropriately,’” he explained. “Indeed, the agency has violated the very immigration laws Congress tasked it with enforcing, along with the administrative laws governing its actions.”
