A US federal court has blocked a series of Trump administration measures that prevented federal officials from granting asylum, green cards and other legal immigration benefits to many immigrants in the US.
In his order on Friday, District Judge John McConnell said that the restrictions on asylum, work permit, green card, and citizenship applications from nationals of 39 African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries were unlawful.
The restrictions were imposed by the Trump administration in late 2025.
The restrictive immigration policies enacted by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) "threw the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo," Judge McConnell wrote.
"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," the judge said.
"Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status, and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures," McConnell said.
USCIS, in imposing the restrictions, was using "pretextual concerns of 'national security' that mask anti-immigrant sentiments," he said.
The judge in his 135-page opinion noted that it was not his role to rule on "the wisdom of the government's policy choices" but to determine whether they "comport with the law."
"The court concludes that they do not," he wrote.
"USCIS's actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious,” the ruling said.
Immigration fight continues
James Percival, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) General Counsel, criticised Friday’s decision.
“The Left has been running the same gambit with so-called ‘animus’ claims since 2017. It is sabotage dressed in legal clothing,” Percival said in a statement.
“It goes like this: (1) the admin is racist, (2) therefore a policy I don’t like is motivated by race, (3) therefore it is invalid. They have used it on virtually every Trump-era Department of Homeland Security policy.”
Meanwhile, Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement that the ruling “reaffirms a basic principle: the federal government cannot shut down lawful immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on where they come from.”
“We are pleased that the court recognised the devastating human consequences of these policies. Our communities deserve a fair process governed by law, not political targeting rooted in fear and discrimination,” Perryman added.
