Judge strikes down Trump policy that halted asylum decisions for 39 countries

By — Michael Casey, Associated Press Michael Casey, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-strikes-down-trump-policy-that-halted-asylum-decisions-for-39-countries Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Judge strikes down Trump policy that halted asylum decisions for 39 countries Politics Jun 5, 2026 1:58 PM EDT BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday struck down a Trump administration policy enacted after the shooting of two National Guard members that made it harder for immigrants from dozens of countries to stay and enter the U.S. In a ruling harshly criticizing the administration, U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. said the policy "threw the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo," and he accused the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of ignoring the law. READ MORE: Asylum-seekers stuck in limbo as U.S. orders them to countries they've never been to "In enacting its latest immigration policies, USCIS: claims statutory and regulatory authority that it does not possess; makes decisions without the reasoned explanations that it must provide; acts without regard for the reliance interests of applicants that it must consider; and justifies its actions with pretextual concerns of 'national security' that mask anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making," he wrote. "In legal terms that means USCIS's actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious." Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The policies enacted after the National Guard shooting last year meant that immigrants from 39 African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries have been "categorically barred" from receiving final decisions on, among other things, their asylum, work permit, green card, and citizenship applications. "This ruling reaffirms a basic principle: the federal government cannot shut down lawful immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on where they come from," said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which represented the plaintiffs in the case. "These unlawful policies caused enormous harm to families, workers, asylum-seekers, and communities across the country who were left in limbo, unable to work, access protections, or move forward with their lives." The policies apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which approves applications for immigrants to work and become citizens. The agency, which is within the Homeland Security Department, often grants asylum, but only for those already in the United States when they apply. Immigration judges grant asylum to those who are stopped at the border; the ruling does not a