United States | Federal court rules USCIS adjudication hold policies unlawful

On June 5, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island vacated four U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policies that had paused or delayed the adjudication of certain immigration benefits for nationals from designated “travel ban” countries. On June 11, 2026, the court issued an order stating that “the Government has an obligation to immediately comply with this Order” and directing the government to file a status report within 24 hours “advising the Court as to what specific steps it has taken to comply with the Court’s Order.”

Key takeaways:

Ruling found policies violated APA. The Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS ruling held that the policies violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and exceeded agency authority.

Four USCIS travel ban policies vacated. The federal court declared the following four USCIS policies that had paused or frozen immigration applications for foreign nationals from nearly 40 countries subject to the administration’s travel bans “are declared unlawful and are vacated and are set aside”:

• Benefits hold that suspended adjudications (like green cards, work permits and naturalization) for applicants from the designated 39 travel-ban countries.
• Global asylum hold that indefinitely paused affirmative asylum adjudications regardless of the applicant’s origin.
• Comprehensive re-review policy that required the re-review of previously approved immigration benefits for affected applicants.
• Country-specific factors that directed adjudicators to treat being from a travel-ban country as a negative discretionary factor during reviews.

Court order effective nationwide. The court’s order applies nationwide, requiring USCIS to resume the adjudication of affected applications.

Respective travel bans remain in effect. The ruling does not eliminate the underlying travel bans or reopen broader pathways for those attempting to enter from outside the U.S.

USCIS to comply and issue updated instructions pending litigation developments. In response to the ruling, USCIS announced it will comply with the court order pending further litigation developments. USCIS stated, “With entry of final judgment this order is effective immediately, and pursuant to the court-ordered vacatur, applies agency-wide. Thus, the vacatur applies to PM 602-0192, PM 602-0194, and PA 2025-26, which should be treated as if they are not in effect. USCIS will issue updated instructions pending further litigation developments.”

Additional information: The challenged policies were implemented following travel ban–related directives and collectively resulted in widespread delays or suspensions of immigration benefit adjudications that, as the court stated, “placed the lives of countless individuals on hold — solely by virtue of their countries of birth.”

The government may appeal the decision and seek a stay to halt processing, making the long-term timeline somewhat uncertain. BAL will continue to monitor related developments and provide updates.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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