In a sweeping judicial rebuke, a US federal court has invalidated a clutch of Trump-era immigration policies that had frozen adjudication of asylum claims, work permits, green cards, and citizenship applications for nationals of 39 countries. Chief District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island ruled on Friday that the measures, adopted by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in late 2025, were unlawful and had left countless immigrants in an “indefinite legal limbo” solely on the basis of nationality.

The policies were enacted in the aftermath of a November 2025 shooting in Washington, DC, in which an Afghan asylum-seeker killed one National Guard member and wounded another. The attacker, granted refugee status after serving with US-backed forces in Afghanistan, triggered a sharp security-driven expansion of the Trump travel ban: suspensions were initially applied to 19, then 39, mainly African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern nations. The administration argued the pause was necessary for vetting, but the court found that USCIS had “categorically prevented” applicants from these countries from advancing through legally mandated processes.

The ruling resonates unevenly across regions. From Tehran and Beirut to Caracas and Kabul, it removes an immediate bureaucratic barrier for thousands stranded without legal status or employment. Middle Eastern news reports emphasised the ban’s reach into Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Iran—whose nationals constitute a large diaspora in the US. Latin American outlets noted the impact on Venezuelan, Haitian, and Cuban migrants, while European observers contextualised the decision as the latest in a series of transatlantic judicial pushbacks against populist hardliners’ attempts to restrict legal migration.

Legally, the judgment is a significant setback for the White House’s immigration apparatus, one that may prompt a swift appeal. Yet it also reflects growing unease within the business community. In a related move, the administration had already partially retreated from a May 2022 directive requiring green card applicants to depart the US, following an “enormous backlash” from employers reliant on skilled foreign workers. The Rhode Island ruling now compels USCIS to resume processing, though systemic delays and political headwinds persist.

Looking ahead, the decision reinforces the role of an independent judiciary in checking executive overreach on immigration. But with national security rhetoric still holding sway in Washington and a restive electorate ahead of the midterms, the battle over who is permitted to build a future in America is far from settled.