Providence, United States. A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration adopted unlawful policies that barred people from 39 countries from receiving decisions on applications for asylum, work permits, green cards and citizenship. The judge said the policies left applicants in prolonged legal uncertainty despite following established immigration procedures.
Court strikes down USCIS policies
Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, struck down a set of policies adopted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He said the measures left people from dozens of African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries in “indeterminate legal limbo.”
Judge cites lack of authority and improper motive
McConnell said the immigrants had complied with legal processes enacted by Congress and implemented by USCIS regulations, but had been “stuck waiting, for months on end, for benefit requests that USCIS refuses to adjudicate.” He said the agency adopted the policies without statutory and regulatory authority and based on “anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making.”
“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,” McConnell wrote.
Challenge brought by advocacy groups and unions
The ruling marked a victory for a coalition of immigrant service organizations and labor unions that sued in March to challenge the USCIS policies. Skye Perryman, head of Democracy Forward, which represents the plaintiffs, said the decision reaffirmed that “the federal government cannot shut down lawful immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on where they come from.”
Policy background and response
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
USCIS adopted the policies as part of an intensified immigration crackdown following the November shooting of two National Guard members stationed in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors say the shooting was carried out by an Afghan immigrant, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who has pleaded not guilty.