Judge Orders USCIS to Resume Processing of Stalled Immigration Cases

Judge Orders USCIS to Resume Processing of Stalled Immigration Cases

A federal judge has ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediately restart the processing of immigration applications that were put on hold. This decision, made on June 5, 2026, by Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., affects millions of stalled applications nationwide. The court found that USCIS policies targeting applicants from 39 high-risk countries violated the Administrative Procedure Act and exceeded the agency’s legal authority.

The ruling means that USCIS must now resume adjudications for green cards, work permits, and asylum cases. These applications had been frozen for months under new screening rules implemented by the agency. The judge’s decision sets aside four policy memos issued between December 2025 and January 2026, which had created nationwide processing holds.

Background of the Processing Holds

The USCIS processing holds were put in place following a National Guard shooting incident in Washington, D.C., in late 2025. The agency cited “operational necessity” and national security concerns as reasons for issuing new memoranda, including one on December 2, 2025. These policies aimed to ensure that applicants from countries deemed high-risk did not pose a threat. However, the court found this rationale to be a pretext for policies influenced by anti-immigrant sentiments, which the agency is forbidden from using in its decision-making.

Impact of the Vacated Policies

The four USCIS policies that were set aside by the court had a broad impact on the immigration benefits system. One policy created a Global Asylum Hold, which indefinitely stopped all affirmative asylum adjudications. Another, known as the Benefits Hold, suspended the processing of green card applications (Form I-485), work permit requests (Form I-765), and naturalization filings (Form N-400) for nationals from specific countries.

A third memo introduced a Comprehensive Re-Review process, adding extra vetting for benefits that had already been approved for individuals who entered the U.S. after January 2021. The fourth policy, the Country-Specific Factors Policy, instructed adjudicators to consider an applicant’s country of origin as a significant negative factor in discretionary decisions. These policies disproportionately affected nationals from 39 countries identified by the government as high-risk, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, and Yemen.

Court’s Findings and Nationwide Effect

Judge McConnell’s ruling emphasized that immigrants had followed all legal requirements but were still blocked by agency actions. He stated that the USCIS processing holds were not due to any fault of the applicants but rather due to their country of origin. The court concluded that USCIS had violated the immigration laws it was tasked with administering, as well as the administrative laws governing its actions.

The decision to vacate the policies nationwide means that the holds are no longer limited to the plaintiffs who brought the case. This reopening of standard processing applies to all affected applicants whose cases had been frozen. Experts estimated that USCIS had accepted over $1 billion in fees for more than two million applications that were subsequently not processed. The Benefits Hold alone had been in effect for 185 days before the judge’s ruling.

Immediate Consequences of the Ruling

The immediate effect of the judge’s order is that people whose applications for work permits, travel documents, permanent residency, and naturalization had been stalled can now expect their cases to move forward. The decision restores standard adjudication procedures, allowing these cases to proceed through normal agency channels instead of remaining indefinitely suspended. The freeze had placed countless immigrants in legal limbo, affecting their ability to work lawfully and travel to see family members abroad.

The ruling also comes at a time when USCIS policies are facing broader scrutiny beyond just asylum claims. The vacated memoranda covered affirmative asylum adjudications, already approved benefits, and discretionary immigration decisions, creating a widespread freeze across various parts of the agency’s case system. USCIS has been ordered by the court to resume processing, returning applicants to the rules that governed their filings before the freeze began.

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