Immigration

This Attempt by the Trump Administration To Cripple Legal Immigration Is Illegal, Judge Rules

The government had imposed an indefinite pause on asylum petitions and on applications for green cards, work permits, and citizenship for legal immigrants from certain countries.

Billy Binion | 6.5.2026 5:33 PM

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President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin (Illustration: Adani Samat. Photo: U.S. Department of Homeland Security)

A judge on Friday struck down one of the Trump administration's attempts to hamstring legal immigration, ruling that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ran afoul of federal law when it instituted an indefinite pause on processing asylum and green card applications submitted by people from certain countries.

"The rule of law has to apply to everyone equally and, as evident here, USCIS has neither 'followed the law' nor 'done things the right way,'" wrote Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. "Indeed, the........

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