Judge Blocks Trump Freeze on 39 Countries in Uscis Immigration Policy Ruling
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's freeze on immigration benefits for noncitizens from 39 countries in a uscis immigration policy ruling issued Friday. U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island said the pause on work permits, green cards and citizenship applications could not stand for people who had followed the rules.
McConnell's 135-page ruling opens the door for hundreds of thousands of people with pending immigration-related applications to have those benefits unpaused. It also orders that naturalization ceremonies canceled under last year's USCIS policy changes be rescheduled.
John McConnell's ruling
McConnell wrote that immigrants had been following the law and were still unlawfully targeted because of where they came from. In the ruling, he said, "In ruling on these motions, the court is reminded of a line often repeated in discussions around immigration policy: If people wish to immigrate to the United States, they ought to ‘follow the law’ and ‘do things the right way.’ This case serves as a perfect example of immigrants doing just that."
He added, "Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status, and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures." The judge also wrote, "The government effectively invites the court to shut its eyes and ignore the strong evidence of anti-immigrant animus before it."
USCIS and the 39 countries
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services enacted the series of scrutinized policies at the end of 2025. USCIS suspended the adjudication of all asylum applications after the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan national in November, and later decided that if an applicant for immigration benefits was from one of the 39 countries subject to the government’s travel ban, that would be a significant negative factor.
Affected countries included Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela and Afghanistan. Last year, Trump said at one rally that he was pausing migration from hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries.
What changes for applicants
The ruling applies to paused benefits for work permits, green cards, citizenship applications and other immigration benefits tied to the 39 countries. Jorge Loweree called it "an enormous victory for hundreds of thousands of people that have been stuck in limbo for a significant period of time, many of whom have lost clarity about whether or not they would be able to obtain or maintain immigration status in the U.S."
For affected applicants, the practical change is immediate: cases that had been held back can move again, and the naturalization ceremonies that were canceled are set to be rescheduled under the court order.
