The benefits pause had been in place since late 2025.
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A federal court has blocked a Trump administration policy that paused the processing of nonimmigrant benefits for individuals from 40 countries and territories, but those impacted by the pause say it still left long-term impacts.
In a 135-page decision, John J. McConnell Jr., a federal judge in Rhode Island, found the pause unlawful for several reasons, including that it discriminated against applicants based on their country of origin.
“When USCIS first enacted the policies at the center of this litigation, the agency did not simply place a hold on adjudications,” he wrote. “More fundamentally, the Challenged Policies placed the lives of countless individuals on hold—solely by virtue of their countries of birth. Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status, and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures.”
