In a significant legal development announced on Friday, a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration’s immigration agency to cease the enforcement of several policies that had stalled the processing of specific immigration-benefit applications.
This ruling was issued in a detailed order by Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island.
Judge McConnell, appointed to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama in 2011, provided a comprehensive opinion on the matter.
The lawsuit prompting this decision was initiated by a coalition of nonprofit organizations, including two based in Providence: Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island and the Refugee Dream Center. According to The Rhode Island Current, union groups advocating for immigrant rights also joined the legal challenge.
The decision came Friday morning in a voluminous order written by Rhode Island’s U.S. District Court Chief Judge, John J. McConnell Jr.:
In a searing 135-page opinion, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. wrote that actions to lock eligible asylum seekers out of the immigration system and deny others temporary work permits had made it functionally impossible for a broad swath of people to remain in the country. He said the measures were improperly fueled by “anti-immigration sentiments” and contrary to immigration laws.
The policies, enacted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, included a global hold on asylum applications filed with the agency. U.S.C.I.S. also paused decisions on immigration applications filed by people from the 39 countries, largely in Africa and the Middle East, that are subject to the president’s travel ban, halting their ability to obtain green cards and other benefits.
The sweeping measures also touched lawful permanent residents who have lived in the country legally for years but have been effectively unable to be approved for citizenship because decisions on naturalization applications had ground to a halt.
McConnell wrote that:
“The rule of law has to apply to everyone equally and, as evident here, U.S.C.I.S. has neither ‘followed the law’ nor ‘done things the right way.’”
The opinion continued:
“Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures,” Judge McConnell wrote.
Judge McConnell…wrote that the various holds violated the immigration laws governing the responsibilities of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and that the agency had routinely applied the law unequally under the policies. He noted in particular strident claims President Trump made last year after the shooting in Washington, blaming immigrants for a range of social problems, including housing shortages and “urban decay.”
The judge wrote that the burden of the changes fell hardest on people who had followed all the procedures demanded of them, rather than immigrants who entered the country illegally, whom the Trump administration routinely vilifies.
“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,’” he wrote. “This case serves as a perfect example of immigrants doing just that.”
Judge McConnell was nominated for the federal bench seat in 2011 by former President Barack Obama.
The suit was filed by a group of nonprofit organizations, led by two Providence-based nonprofits, Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island and Refugee Dream Center, according to local publication, The Rhode Island Current. The lawsuit was also joined by union groups that support immigrants’ claims.
The lawsuit against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stemmed from the order by President Donald Trump to pause or delay adjudications, particularly for applicants from designated countries, and impose re-review procedures for some refugees, after two National Guardsmen were shot, one fatally, in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan terror suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who was living in the United States on an expired 2021 temporary visa.
