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Federal Judge John McConnell, based in Rhode Island, has ordered the resumption of processing files for nationals from 39 countries by USCIS, American media outlets, including The Hill, reported on Friday, June 5, 2026.
Federal Judge John McConnell, based in Rhode Island, has ordered the resumption of processing applications from citizens of 39 countries by USCIS, American media, including The Hill, reported on Friday, June 5, 2026.
“More than six months ago, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented a series of policies that have plunged the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indefinite legal uncertainty,” McConnell writes in his 135-page ruling.”The freezing of decisions by USCIS cannot be blamed on any fault of these individuals; it arises solely from the accident of their birth,” the judge said, referring to the shooting attack on two National Guard members by an Afghan national in the streets of Washington. One of the soldiers had succumbed to his injuries.Dans les jours entourant le dernier Thanksgiving, Trump avait interdit le traitement de toute demande d’immigration émanant de ressortissants de 39 pays visés par l’interdiction de voyager, bloquant ainsi l’accès aux cartes vertes et entraînant l’annulation massive de cérémonies de naturalisation.
Il avait également suspendu le traitement de toutes les demandes d’asile, quel que soit le pays d’origine, et ordonné un réexamen de tous les avantages migratoires accordés aux ressortissants des 39 pays concernés sous l’administration Biden. Judge McConnell admonished the Trump administration for taking steps that upended the lives of people who had legally immigrated to the United States.
“In ruling on these requests, the Court is reminded of a phrase often repeated in discussions about immigration policy: if people want to immigrate to the United States, they must ‘follow the law’ and ‘do things the right way.’ This case perfectly illustrates immigrants who did exactly that,” he writes.”But the rule of law must apply to everyone equally, and, as is clear here, USCIS has neither ‘followed the law’ nor ‘done things correctly.’ In reality, the agency violated the very immigration laws that Congress tasked it with enforcing.”
The decision means that, in addition to resuming the processing of immigration applications, the administration will also have to reschedule naturalization ceremonies for the thousands of immigrants about to become U.S. citizens, according to this article from The Hill.This decision is a major victory for immigrants and their advocates, who had seen the processing of their cases come to a sudden halt—a pause that threatened to push some immigrants with legal status, but only temporary visas, to overstay their permitted status.
For now, we’re waiting to see whether the Trump administration will decide to appeal or not. In the coming days and weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court will have to decide on maintaining TPS for Haitian nationals before going on vacation at the end of June or early July.
