A federal court in Rhode Island has ordered nationwide relief for immigrants whose green card, work permit, naturalization, and asylum cases were frozen because of the travel ban. On June 5, 2026, Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island vacated four USCIS policies that had paused the adjudication of immigration benefit requests for nationals of approximately 39 countries covered by the presidential travel proclamation.
The court struck down: the Benefits Hold Policy, which froze EAD work-permit approvals, green card adjudications, naturalization, and other benefits for nationals of the affected countries; the Global Asylum Hold Policy, which halted asylum processing across the board; the Comprehensive Re-Review Policy, which required USCIS to reopen previously approved benefits; and a country-specific factors policy directing officers to treat an applicant’s nationality as a negative factor.
Judge McConnell held that USCIS exceeded its statutory authority, failed to adequately explain its abrupt policy shift, and relied on pretextual national security justifications — all hallmarks of unlawful agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act. Because the ruling vacates the policies rather than merely enjoining them, the relief applies nationwide.
The decision means that many pending employment authorization, adjustment-of-status, and naturalization cases for affected applicants can now move forward after months of limbo. Importantly, the ruling has limits: it does not lift the travel ban’s entry restrictions, nor does it undo the separate State Department pause on visa issuance at consulates abroad. In other words, benefit adjudication inside the United States can resume, but consular and entry restrictions remain in place.
Applicants who believe their case was caught in the freeze should confirm the current status of their petition and be prepared for adjudication to restart. Given the government’s litigation posture in related cases, further appeals are possible, so affected applicants should keep records current.
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Source: U.S. District Court (D.R.I.) — reported via American Immigration Council