A federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration last year unlawfully paused final immigration decisions for individuals from countries affected by its so-called travel ban.
The lawsuit, brought forward in March by various nonprofits representing immigrants, criticized several Citizenship and Immigration Services policies that paused final decisions on asylum, green card and citizenship applications for individuals from any of the 39 countries under the current travel ban.
The ban, which took effect last year and initially covered 19 countries, was expanded to 39 in late December and now consists of several countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, including in the Middle East.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island wrote that the restrictions put “countless immigrants” in an “indeterminate legal limbo.” McConnell also said the agency’s current policy hinges “solely” on place of birth rather than merit.
And in its most pointed rebuke, McConnell accused the Trump administration of using false pretexts to justify the pause on application decisions and said it lacked enforcement authority.
“In enacting its latest immigration policies, USCIS: claims statutory and regulatory authority that it does not possess; makes decisions without the reasoned explanations that it must provide; acts without regard for the reliance interests of applicants that it must consider; and justifies its actions with pretextual concerns of ‘national security’ that mask anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making,” McConnell wrote.
The judge’s ruling was immediately lauded by the plaintiffs and their partners in this case.
“These unlawful policies caused enormous harm to families, workers, asylum seekers, and communities across the country who were left in limbo, unable to work, access protections, or move forward with their lives,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement. “We are pleased that the court recognized the devastating human consequences of these policies.”
The Trump administration denounced the decision.