President Donald Trump’s administration illegally prevented applicants from 39 travel ban countries from receiving decisions on asylum, work permits, green cards and citizenship, a US federal judge ruled on Friday.
U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, ruled that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has adopted a series of illegal policies targeting people from 39 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
His decision came in a lawsuit filed in March by a coalition of immigrant services agencies and labor unions challenging a series of policies adopted in November by USCIS, which is part of the US Department of Homeland Security.
The measures halted processing of applications for immigration benefits from people in 39 countries under Trump’s full or partial travel ban, which he has justified on vetting and security grounds. Green cards give foreign nationals permanent residency status.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
McConnell, who was appointed by the Democratic President of the United States, Barack Obama, said the policies “threw the lives of many immigrants living in the United States into an unknown legal limbo”.
