Setback for the immigration policy of the president of the United States, Donald Trump. Federal judge, John McConell Jr., ruled this Friday, June 5, that the Government “illegally” prevented applicants from 39 countries, subject to the ban on traveling to the United States, from receiving resolutions on asylum, work permits, residency cards and citizenship. Therefore, the magistrate orders the Administration to immediately restart said processes.

First modification: 06/05/2026 - 20:36 Last modification: 06/05/2026 - 20:49

Harsh pronouncement by a federal judge on President Donald Trump's immigration veto for people from 39 countries.

In an opinion collected in more than 100 pages, the judge, John McConnell Jr., annulled a series of policies of the Republican president with which he ordered the suspension of immigration processes such as asylum, residence and citizenship for people from the nations on which he imposed a travel ban, including territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

“It claims a “legal and regulatory authority that it does not possess, it makes decisions without the reasoned explanations that it must provide”

The judge assured that it was an “illegal” measure and accused Trump of using “pretexts of national security” to interfere in measures that do not correspond to him and without following the due process and evaluations necessary for these cases.

MacConnell explained that with these measures, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) claims a “legal and regulatory authority that it does not possess, makes decisions without the reasoned explanations that it must provide, acts without taking into account the trust interests of the applicants that it must consider and justifies its actions with pretexts of ‘national security’ that mask anti-immigrant sentiments that it is prohibited from allowing to influence its decision-making.”

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“In legal terms, this means that the actions of USCIS are contrary to the law, arbitrary and capricious,” he adds.

The ruling follows a lawsuit filed last March by a coalition of immigrant services organizations and unions challenging the set of policies adopted since November by USCIS, which is part of the US Department of Homeland Security.

Read alsoDonald Trump's government considers adding 36 countries to the veto to enter the United States

"They plunged the lives of countless immigrants into legal limbo"

Trump implemented the measures after the shooting of two members of the National Guard. And with this, it made it difficult for immigrants from dozens of countries to stay and enter the country.

McConnell, appointed by then-Democratic President Barack Obama, said those policies "plunged the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into an indeterminate legal limbo."

The magistrate stressed that those affected had complied with the legal procedures enacted by Congress and adopted by the Citizenship and Immigration Services through regulations and, however, they had been "stuck in waiting, for months, for applications for benefits that the USCIS refused to resolve."

"The withholding of the resolutions by the USCIS is not due to any irregularity committed by these people; rather, it arises solely from the fact of being born in the country," he said, referring to the nations targeted by Trump's veto.

Given this scenario, the judge orders the authorities involved to immediately restart these immigration procedures.

"The rule of law must apply to everyone equally and, as evidenced in this case, USCIS has not 'followed the law' or 'acted correctly (...) In fact, the agency has violated the very immigration laws that Congress entrusted it to administer, as well as the administrative laws that govern its actions," McConnell stressed.

The president and executive director of the NGO Democracy Forward, Skye Perryman, pointed out that the judge's ruling ratifies a fundamental principle: “the federal government cannot close legal avenues for immigration or discriminate against people based on their origin.”

“These illegal policies caused enormous harm to families, workers, asylum seekers and communities across the country, who were left in uncertainty, unable to work, access protection or move forward with their lives,” he noted.

Also read EE. US extends veto and travel restrictions to 20 other countries, including Syria

With Reuters and AP

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