Court Decision June 5, 2026 · JBNP Law
A federal judge has thrown out the policies that froze green cards, work permits, and citizenship for people from the travel-ban countries. It's the broadest win yet against those holds — and if your case has been stuck in limbo, it matters.
On June 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS, ruled that four USCIS policies were unlawful and vacated them — wiped them off the books. Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. found the policies broke the Administrative Procedure Act and set them aside.
The court tossed four related policies that had built up around the travel ban:
Other courts had already paused these holds, but mostly just for the specific people who sued. This ruling goes further: it vacates the policies themselves, so they're off the table nationwide. On paper, that means USCIS has to resume adjudicating the cases it had frozen — all of them, not just the plaintiffs'. For applicants who did everything right — filed on time, paid the fees, did biometrics, sat for interviews — and then watched their cases sit for months while they lost jobs and work authorization, that's a real opening.
The judge stuck to administrative law and didn't reach the constitutional questions. In short: USCIS claimed power it doesn't have, never gave a real explanation for the holds, ignored how heavily people were relying on timely decisions, and leaned on a national-security rationale the court called pretextual. The court pointed out that these applicants hadn't done anything wrong — they were singled out by where they happened to be born.
This may not be the last word, and we'd caution against reading too much into it just yet. Given how aggressively this administration has pushed its enforcement agenda, we expect the government to move quickly — most likely asking a court to stay the order so the holds snap back into place, and/or appealing to the First Circuit. If a stay is denied, USCIS may start working through held cases in the meantime, but even that could prove temporary depending on what the appeals court — or ultimately the Supreme Court — does. The agency could also try to re-issue the policy with a more developed record. In short, the status of frozen cases could shift again, possibly more than once, in the coming weeks.
If you've had a green card, work permit, naturalization, or asylum case stuck because of these holds, this ruling may finally open the door to a decision — and timing could matter if a stay is coming. Now is the moment to get your file in order and be ready to move. Book a consultation and we'll tell you how today's decision affects your specific case.
This post is general information, current as of when it was written — not legal advice, and no substitute for talking to an attorney about your own case. This is a fast-moving area and the ruling may be appealed or stayed. Reading this doesn't make us your lawyers. Please get advice on your specific situation before you act.