U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will resume adjudicating asylum, green-card, and work-permit cases for nationals of 39 travel-ban countries after a federal judge lambasted the agency for ignoring his June 5 order to restart processing. The original “benefits pause”—imposed last December after an Afghan gunman killed a National Guard member—had frozen thousands of applications, stranding employees and families in legal limbo. Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ruled the policy arbitrary and unlawful; when USCIS failed to act promptly, he issued a sharply worded follow-up, stating “There is no excuse this time.” In a late-night statement on June 12, USCIS confirmed compliance and said it would “issue updated instructions to all adjudicating officers.” The Department of Justice has appealed and may seek a stay, but processing is to resume immediately unless higher courts intervene. Employers that had placed affected staff on unpaid leave can now move to reinstate work authorizations, though attorneys caution that backlogs and staffing gaps could delay tangible relief for several weeks. The episode illustrates the growing legal pushback against broad executive actions that use national-security rationales to constrain legal immigration. Business groups—including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—welcomed the restart, noting that many of the paused applicants are STEM graduates and health-care workers essential to critical industries. Labor unions that joined the lawsuit estimate that more than 120,000 people were caught in the freeze, including 8,000 nurses recruited by U.S. hospitals. Going forward, companies should verify whether pending cases were tagged with “travel-ban hold” codes and, if so, prepare expedited follow-ups once USCIS releases formal guidance. Plaintiffs’ attorneys are also seeking court supervision to ensure the agency does not institute de-facto slow-walking. HR teams are advised to build contingency plans in case the First Circuit grants the government’s request for a temporary stay.
Source: The Washington Post
