A federal judge has struck down several Trump administration immigration policies that halted the processing of asylum and other applications for people from dozens of countries, ruling the measures both unlawful and discriminatory, as first reported by LittleAfrica News.
Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. ruled on Friday, June 5, that the policies improperly blocked applicants from 39 countries from getting decisions on asylum requests, work permits, green cards and citizenship applications. His order requires the federal government to resume processing those applications. Thousands of people whose cases had sat frozen for months can now get decisions. The ruling reaches pending immigration cases nationwide.
McConnell found that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that handles legal immigration paperwork, exceeded its legal authority and failed to follow established immigration laws and procedures. He rejected the administration’s national security justification, writing that the policies lacked a legal basis and appeared to be driven by hostility toward immigrants rather than legitimate security concerns.
USCIS is the side of the immigration system that decides applications, not the side that carries out arrests and deportations. The policies at issue effectively stopped it from ruling on cases for anyone from the 39 listed countries. People who had already filed and qualified were left waiting with no decision either way, unable to get work permits or advance toward permanent status.
The immigrant rights groups and labor organizations that challenged the policies in court praised the ruling as a win for fairness and due process. They argued the measures unfairly singled out people based on their country of origin and kept eligible applicants from working or obtaining permanent status.
The policies were part of the Trump administration’s effort to tighten immigration restrictions. The administration is expected to appeal.
McConnell has sat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island since 2011, when he was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate. He has served as chief judge of that court since 2019.
