United States: Federal Judge Blocks Immigration Restrictions Affecting Applicants From 39 Countries

A federal court in the United States has struck down a series of immigration policies introduced by the Trump administration that affected applicants from 39 countries, ruling that the measures unlawfully delayed decisions on asylum claims, work permits, green cards and citizenship applications. The decision is being viewed as a major setback for the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.

Chief US District Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island held that the policies adopted by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) exceeded the agency’s legal authority and violated federal administrative law. The court found that thousands of applicants who had complied with immigration requirements were left in prolonged uncertainty solely because of their nationality.

The restrictions were introduced following a presidential proclamation issued in December 2025 that expanded travel and immigration controls on nationals from several countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The administration defended the measures on national security grounds and linked them to concerns about immigration screening and vetting procedures.

Immigrant rights organisations and labour groups challenged the policies earlier this year, arguing that they were discriminatory and unlawfully froze immigration applications. Agreeing with the challenge, the court described the measures as arbitrary and inadequately justified.

As a result of the ruling, the immigration agency can no longer suspend or delay applications from the affected countries under the challenged policies, allowing processing of pending cases to resume under normal procedures while any further legal proceedings continue.