According to the judge, many affected individuals had spent more than six months without legal status, employment authorization or any certainty about their future in the United States.
A United States federal judge has struck down a series of immigration restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump's administration on nationals from 39 countries, ruling that the measures were unlawful and left thousands of immigrants trapped in legal uncertainty.
District Judge John McConnell, in a ruling delivered on Friday, blocked the restrictions that affected asylum applications, work permits, green card processing and citizenship applications for immigrants from several African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern nations.
The controversial measures were introduced following the November 2025 shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan immigrant. One of the guardsmen was killed in the attack.
In his ruling, McConnell said the actions taken by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had thrown the lives of countless immigrants into what he described as an "indeterminate legal limbo."
