Judge blocks Trump’s sweeping freeze on immigration benefits for 39 countries

(CN) — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from freezing work permits, green cards, citizenship applications and other immigration benefits for noncitizens from 39 countries affected by the government’s travel bans.

The 135-page ruling, from U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, opens the door for hundreds of thousands of people with pending immigration-related applications to have these benefits unpaused. These immigrants were following the rules, McConnell wrote, but were nonetheless unlawfully targeted by the government because of where they came from.

“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,” wrote the Barack Obama appointee.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services enacted the series of scrutinized policies at the end of 2025, with the administration attributing them — at least in part — to the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan national in November.

After that incident, USCIS suspended the adjudication of all asylum applications and decided that going forward, if an applicant for immigration benefits is from one of the 39 countries subject to the government’s travel ban, then that would be a “significant negative factor” for their application.

“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 wrote.

Affected countries included Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela and Afghanistan.

The rule change threw “countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo,” McConnell ruled Friday. He added that USCIS tried to justify its actions “with pretextual concerns of ‘national security’ that mask anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision making.”

McConnell said he wasn’t convinced by the government’s claims that the policies supported a legitimate national security interest. He pointed to statements from President Donald Trump himself, who said at one rally last year that he was pausing migration “from hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries.”

“The government effectively invites the court to shut its eyes and ignore the strong evidence of anti-immigrant animus before it,” he wrote. “Doing so would require profound naiveté on the court’s part.”

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last year’s USCIS rule changes led to the widespread cancellation of naturalization ceremonies for affected immigrants on the brink of getting their citizenship. Those ceremonies will now be rescheduled, thanks to McConnell’s ruling.

“This is 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.,” Jorge Loweree, managing director of programs and strategy at the American Immigration Council, told Courthouse News on Friday.

The government can appeal the opinion to the First Circuit, though that liberal-leaning circuit has been historically unkind to Trump’s immigration agenda. Still, Loweree said he’s disturbed at DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s refusal to commit to following court orders during a Capital Hill appearance earlier this week.

“If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that,” Mullin told lawmakers on Tuesday when asked if he would obey opinions from judges that rule against DHS.

Loweree said he hopes that position “won’t play any role here.”

“But we’ll see,” he added.

The underlying case comes from a group of immigrant rights organizations and labor unions, who sued the government in March over the policies. The groups claimed USCIS sought to make “life so unbearable” for immigrants in the U.S. “that they are forced to leave.”

“These policies have flung noncitizens living in the United States into an indefinite state of limbo, confusion and uncertainty,” the groups argued in the lawsuit. “Long-term residents who have waited years to secure a green card now have reason to believe they will never be granted permanent legal status. Laborers face the prospect of losing their work permits, their livelihood and their ability to provide for their families.”

One of the plaintiffs, African Communities Together, is behind another ongoing high-profile immigration case over the conditions of 26 Federal Plaza, an infamous Manhattan ICE detention facility rife with accusations of inmate mistreatment.

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