Judge says policy violates US immigration law
A federal court in the Boston has dealt a setback to the administration of Donald Trump, ruling that policies restricting immigration applications from certain countries are unlawful and discriminatory.
Julia Kobick issued a preliminary injunction against measures that made it harder for individuals from countries under the travel ban to obtain green cards and work permits.
Court finds nationality-based policy discriminatory
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by around 200 applicants from countries including Iran, Haiti, Venezuela and Syria.
The court examined policies introduced by US Citizenship and Immigration Services that effectively paused processing applications from individuals belonging to 39 countries under travel restrictions.
Judge Kobick said the approach likely violates US law prohibiting discrimination based on nationality.
She noted that treating nationality as a key negative factor in immigration decisions conflicts with the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Halt on applications termed unlawful
The judge also criticised the broader suspension of application processing.
She said the halt on asylum and naturalisation applications was:
“contrary to Congress’s command that the agency issue decisions on such applications.”
Additionally, the pause on green card and work permit applications was found to violate existing regulations governing those processes.
Relief granted to affected applicants
The court order currently applies to 22 individuals who demonstrated harm due to the policy, though discussions are ongoing on whether it should be expanded to cover all plaintiffs.
Authorities from the US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, have not yet responded publicly to the ruling.
Legal pushback against immigration crackdown
Lawyers representing the applicants welcomed the decision, calling it a significant legal check on restrictive immigration measures.
“USCIS wants to make it harder for people to receive an immigration benefit if they are from one of the 39 countries, even though Congress has never allowed them to,” said attorney Jim Hacking.
The ruling marks one of the first major judicial challenges to both the “significant negative factor” policy and the broader halt on application processing.
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