Trump Administration Restarts Asylum and Immigration Processing Following Federal Court Order

The Trump administration announced late Friday that it will resume processing hundreds of thousands of frozen asylum and immigration applications, bowing to a federal court order that declared its sweeping suspension unlawful.[1][2]

The reversal by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) comes after a blistering rebuke from Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, who chided the administration for failing to immediately comply with his initial June 5 ruling.[1][2][8]

"There is no excuse this time," McConnell wrote in a follow-up order on Thursday, demanding a status report within 24 hours on the specific steps the agency was taking to lift the freeze.[2]

The legal battle stems from a broad policy implemented by USCIS in December 2025. Following a tragic incident in November where an Afghan national who had been granted asylum shot two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., the administration abruptly halted adjudications.[2][6]

The freeze was twofold: it placed a nationwide hold on all affirmative asylum applications, and it indefinitely suspended the processing of green cards, work permits, and naturalization requests for nationals of 39 countries covered by President Trump's expanded travel ban.[3][6][7]

The Department of Homeland Security defended the pause as a necessary national security measure, arguing that the system required a comprehensive re-review to ensure maximum vetting of high-risk cases before any further benefits were granted.[2][4]

However, a coalition of labor unions and immigrant rights groups, led by the Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, sued the administration, arguing the blanket freeze exceeded the agency's statutory authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.[4][8]

In his 135-page ruling, Judge McConnell agreed with the plaintiffs, stating that the administration had "placed the lives of countless individuals on hold — solely by virtue of their countries of birth."[2][3][8]

McConnell noted that the applicants had followed all legal procedures, paid their filing fees, and submitted to background checks, only to be left in an "indeterminate legal limbo" due to the happenstance of their nationality rather than any individual wrongdoing.[3][5][8]

While USCIS stated Friday that it "strongly disagrees" with the ruling, Deputy Director Angelica Alfonso-Royals confirmed the agency is instructing personnel to resume processing and ensuring internal systems no longer block the applications.[1][2]

The Justice Department has already appealed the decision to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and plans to seek an emergency stay to halt the resumption of processing while the case is litigated.[1][2]

DHS officials expressed sharp frustration with the judicial intervention. A department spokesperson characterized the lawsuits as "sabotage dressed in legal clothing," accusing left-leaning groups of using the courts to systematically undermine the administration's immigration agenda.[2][4]

For the hundreds of thousands of immigrants caught in the backlog, the resumption offers a narrow window of hope. Immigration attorneys are advising clients to urgently update their evidence and check their case statuses before any potential appellate court stay is granted.[5][7]

The freeze has had severe practical consequences over the past seven months. Without work authorization or adjusted status, many applicants lost their jobs, faced expiring student visas, or were unable to make long-term plans for their families or careers.[5][6]

Legal experts emphasize that the ruling does not automatically grant any applications; it merely forces USCIS to return to its standard adjudication process, evaluating each case on its individual merits rather than applying a blanket nationality-based hold.[7]

As the legal fight moves to the appellate level, the broader debate over the executive branch's authority to unilaterally suspend domestic immigration processing in the name of national security remains a defining clash of the administration's second term.[1][2][7]