Judge Blocks Trump Immigration Freeze for 39 Targeted Countries

Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. ruled on June 5, 2026, that the Trump administration unlawfully froze immigration benefit adjudications for nationals of 39 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The court ordered the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to resume processing pending applications for asylum, green cards, work permits, and citizenship, and to reschedule canceled naturalization ceremonies.

The restricted policies were implemented in late 2025 following a November 26 shooting in Washington, D.C., where an Afghan immigrant killed one National Guard soldier and wounded another. In response to the event, Donald Trump pledged to pause migration from Third World countries to allow the American system to recover. Judge McConnell found that USCIS lacked statutory authority for the freezes and used national security concerns as a pretext to mask prohibited anti-immigrant sentiments, describing the agency's actions as arbitrary and capricious.

The ruling vacates four specific policies: a global asylum hold, a benefits hold, a re-review process for previously approved cases, and a policy using an applicant's country of birth as a negative factor. While the decision restores lawful pathways for thousands in legal limbo, it does not affect existing travel bans for those entering the U.S. from abroad.

Democracy Forward, representing a coalition of labor unions and immigrant service groups, praised the ruling as a reaffirmation of basic legal principles. Conversely, Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival dismissed the decision as political sabotage.