Trump officials agree to resume asylum processing after being scolded by judge

The Trump administration said Friday it would resume processing immigration and asylum applications for people from dozens of countries whose cases were put on indefinite hold after an Afghan national shot two National Guard members in D.C. last year.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement that it “strongly disagrees” with Judge John J. McConnell Jr.’s order, but would abide by his demand that the agency obeys his ruling, which found that the administration’s policy was unlawful and arbitrary.

“We are complying with the court order,” a spokesperson said.

Officials froze all asylum applications and issued a sweeping pause on immigration benefits for nationals of 39 countries under President Donald Trump’s travel ban in December in response to the shooting. The administration described it as a matter of national security. But McConnell found that officials had “placed the lives of countless individuals on hold — solely by virtue of their countries of birth.”

USCIS issued no details on how quickly applicants might start to see their cases processed, and the Justice Department appealed McConnell’s ruling Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. Government lawyers have said they intend to seek a stay on McConnell’s order as the case is adjudicated.

The case involves a coalition of labor unions and immigrant rights groups that challenged the administration’s pause on immigration processing for scores of immigrants. Essential services, including processing citizenship, green-card and work permit applicants, were halted — leaving many people in legal limbo and without a means to earn a living.

Trump and proponents of restricting immigration assert that the nation’s asylum system has been overwhelmed by people who are unlikely to qualify for the benefit but are allowed to remain in the United States for years while waiting for their day in court. The policy was one of several broad measures Trump has taken during his second term to make it harder for immigrants to access the asylum system.

USCIS’s announcement came a day after McConnell, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, issued an order lambasting the administration for not immediately resuming immigration processing on June 5. Plaintiffs had asked him to enforce the order and make the administration comply.

“It should almost go without saying — but the Court will say it anyway … court orders vacating and setting aside agency policies have immediate effect once they are issued,” wrote McConnell, an Obama appointee. “There is no excuse this time.”

In a statement Friday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson blamed “the Left” for using the courts to undermine the administration’s immigration policies. “It is sabotage dressed in legal clothing,” the official said. “They have used it on virtually every Trump-era Department of Homeland Security policy.”

USCIS Deputy Director Angelica Alfonso-Royals wrote in a declaration to the court Friday that the agency would alert the public about its compliance, instruct personnel to work as if the policies are no longer applicable and ensure that internal systems do not stop applications based on the measures the judge declared unlawful.

In a statement posted online, the agency said it “will issue updated instructions pending further litigation developments.”

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