Federal Court Blocks USCIS’s Adjudication Hold on Applications by Nationals of 39 Countries
On Friday, June 5th, Judge John McConnell, Jr., of the Federal District Court, held that USCIS’s indefinite hold on adjudication of benefit applications by or for foreign nationals from the 39 “high-risk countries” is unlawful. The hold that has been ruled unlawful (for now at least) applied to all benefit applications and petitions including I-129 (H-1B, L-1, TN, etc.), I-140, I-485, I-131, I-765, N-400, etc. The 39 impacted countries were: Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Burundi, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, The Gambia, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
In ruling against USCIS, the judge found that the agency had thrown the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo based solely on applicants’ countries of birth, as well as hostile attitude toward immigrants from certain countries. The ruling means that USCIS may no longer categorically freeze adjudications or treat nationals of the 39 countries as presumptively disfavored. That means applications that were frozen must return to ordinary adjudication channels.
This is likely a developing legal situation as the Department of Homeland Security may appeal the district court decision. ILG will continue providing further updates if/when they become available. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your ILG attorney or reach our firm at .