Federal judge rules Trump administration violated law by pausing immigration applications from 39 countries

A federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration violated federal law by indefinitely pausing decisions on asylum, green cards, work permits, and citizenship applications for people from 39 countries subject to travel restrictions. Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, found that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had adopted unlawful policies targeting applicants from African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern nations.

The policies placed holds on processing immigration benefit applications from people in the 39 countries, which the administration had justified on vetting and security grounds. The lawsuit was filed in March by a coalition of immigrant service organizations and labor unions.

The New York Immigration Coalition described the policies as leaving thousands of families in limbo and cutting people from life-saving protections.

““USCIS’s hold on adjudications cannot be attributed to anything that these individuals did wrong; rather, it arises solely by the happenstance of their birth.””

” “But the rule of law has to apply to everyone equally and, as evident here, USCIS has neither ‘followed the law’ nor ‘done things the right way’,” McConnell wrote. The New York Immigration Coalition applauded the judge’s decision.

““Every person seeking safety, stability, and opportunity deserves a fair chance to have their case heard under the law. The ruling came on the same day that the U.S. Senate voted to pass legislation to fund the administration’s immigration enforcement measures.”