Following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington D.C. last year, President Trump issued a Proclamation which placed full and partial restrictions on the entry of foreign nationals from 19 countries. The list of countries subject to travel bans expanded to 39 shortly after.
USCIS later announced additional policy changes suspending the granting of applications for immigration benefits made by nationals from the countries subject to a travel ban. It announced that it would also re-review petitions made by nationals from the 39 restricted countries since the Biden Administration began and treat nationality as a “significant negative factor” if the application was for a national from one of these 39 countries.
The aggressive policy change led to a processing pause for hundreds of thousands of immigration benefits petitions. Last week, however, Federal Judge John McConnell found that the policies were unlawful and ordered them vacated. In a 135-page decision, Judge McConnell wrote that USCIS did not have a legal basis to suspend benefits requests, that the orders were arbitrary and capricious, and that the policies were made with unlawful bigotry.
What happens now?
The order goes into effect immediately: USCIS is required to begin adjudicating the petitions which have been subject to the processing pause. The Trump Administration filed an appeal on June 12, but USCIS has noted that it “will follow its terms pending possible further judicial review.”
Please note that this decision has no bearing on the travel bans themselves, which are still in place. If you would like to discuss this news further, we would be happy to speak with you.