Judge rejects Trump administration policy impacting immigrants from 39 countries

By
FOX Local
Published June 8, 2026 8:45 AM MST

FILE-A demonstrator carries a sign reading 'My Dreams Are Not Illegal' near American flags as immigrants rights supporters march downtown during a 'March for Dignity' on March 01, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The Brief 

    • A Rhode Island judge ruled against a Trump administration policy that made it challenging for immigrants to stay and enter the United States.
    • Earlier this year, a lawsuit was filed by immigrant service organizations and labor unions over the the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adopting the administration’s policies.
    • In 2025, the Trump administration ramped up their immigration crackdown policies on 39 countries after the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. 

A federal judge ruled that Trump’s administration adopted unlawful policies that banned individuals from 39 countries from receiving decisions on applications for citizenship, asylum, work permits, and green cards. 

Reuters reported that Chief U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, on June 5 rejected several policies that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adopted, in what McConnell stated, left individuals from African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries in "legal limbo."

RELATED: Trump administration to expand travel ban to over 30 countries, Noem says

McConnell concluded in his ruling that the ​immigrants followed the legal processes that Congress passed and USCIS had adopted by ⁠regulation, but these individuals had to wait for benefit requests that the federal agency refused to settle. 

The judge’s ruling was a victory for a group of immigrant service organizations and labor unions that in March sued to contest procedures taken up by USCIS, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. 

Trump administration travel ban

The backstory:

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adopted the policies as part of an enhanced immigration crackdown the Trump administration enforced after a November 26, 2025, shooting of two National Guard members stationed in Washington, D.C. 

After the incident, President Donald Trump pledged on ​social media to "permanently pause migration ⁠from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover," while expanding the number of countries to undergo full or partial travel bans covering 39 countries. 

Moreover, the USCIS adopted the Trump administration’s policy and put a hold on processing immigration benefit applications from individuals from these countries. 

The Source: Information for this story was provided by Reuters and previous FOX Local reporting. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.


 

ImmigrationPoliticsU.S.WorldNews