Chief Judge John J. Mcconnell Jr. Rules DHS Broke Law Freezing Immigration from 39 Countries

(RHODE ISLAND) – On June 5, 2026, Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ruled that the government violated immigration law by indefinitely freezing green cards, work permits, and asylum decisions tied to nationals of 39 countries, while also directing a wider re-review of cases and treating nationality as a negative factor.

The Rhode Island decision in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS, No. 1:26-cv-00132 (D.R.I. June 5, 2026) vacated four U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services policies. It ordered the Department of Homeland Security and USCIS to resume adjudications that had been halted inside the United States.

Judge McConnell found that DHS and USCIS had no authority to stop deciding applications that Congress said the agency shall adjudicate. His order covers pending immigration benefits, including Form I-485 adjustment applications, EAD work authorization requests, N-400 naturalization filings, and affirmative asylum determinations.

One policy, the Benefits Hold Policy, imposed an indefinite freeze on green cards, work permits, and citizenship cases filed by people from the 39 listed countries. Another, the Global Asylum Hold Policy, paused all affirmative asylum decisions nationwide, regardless of nationality.

A third measure, the Comprehensive Re-Review Policy, directed officers to re-examine approved or pending cases involving people from those countries who entered on or after January 20, 2021. The fourth, the Country-Specific Negative Factor Policy, told officers to treat country of birth as a serious adverse factor in discretionary decisions.

Those directives reached far beyond new filings. They touched pending benefits, renewals, and already granted cases, pulling applicants into repeated review after they had paid fees and waited through existing delays.

The ruling landed against a large existing caseload. USCIS backlog figures had reached about 11.6 million cases by late 2025, and advocates said the agency had taken in more than $1 billion in fees from about two million applicants whose matters were then refused for processing.

Judge McConnell’s opinion rejected the government’s reading of the Immigration and Nationality Act. He wrote that the statute uses mandatory language, including “shall,” and does not permit the agency to simply stop adjudications for whole groups of applicants.

His order also sharply criticized the justification offered for the freeze. The court said a November 2025 shooting was used as a pretext to mask anti-immigrant sentiment, and found no rational link between that crime and a blanket halt affecting unrelated applicants.

The opinion described the result as “legal limbo” imposed because of the “happenstance of their birth.” In practical terms, that meant people lawfully seeking immigration benefits could not get decisions, renew work permission, or complete naturalization steps.

USCIS must now resume processing for hundreds of thousands of pending cases inside the country. People with stalled I-485, EAD, and N-400 filings may see movement, and some workers whose authorization expired during the pause may be able to seek renewals and return to jobs.

The order has clear limits. It applies to USCIS adjudications inside the United States; it does not override separate visa pauses at consulates abroad or broader travel bans issued outside the USCIS benefits system.

⚠️ USCIS must resume processing for hundreds of thousands of pending cases in the U.S.; consular visa pauses and travel bans remain outside this ruling.

✅ Affected individuals should monitor USCIS processing timelines and confirm case status updates through the USCIS Newsroom.

DHS and USCIS had defended at least some related measures in public comments before the ruling. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said at the time of enactment that asylum decisions were halted while the agency sought maximum vetting and screening. A USCIS spokesperson said on May 29, 2026 that new adjustment guidance was a reminder of officers’ discretionary authority, not a total freeze.

A related USCIS memo, PM-602-0199, dated May 22, 2026, addressed adjustment of status. The court, however, treated the underlying 39-country pause and connected directives as unlawful categorical policies rather than routine case-by-case discretion.

Official materials remain available through the [USCIS Newsroom](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom). The adjustment memo appears at [uscis.gov](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-will-grant-adjustment-of-status-only-in-extraordinary), and the governing statute can be reviewed through [law.cornell.edu](https://www.law.cornell.edu/).

Further litigation or administrative revisions may follow, and processing changes may take time to appear in individual case accounts. People affected by the vacated policies should watch for updated notices, especially where work authorization, adjustment interviews, or naturalization scheduling had been put on hold.

This article discusses legal rulings and immigration policy; for individual eligibility and risk, consult an attorney.

Information reflects court ruling and official sources as of June 5, 2026; interpretations may evolve with further decisions.