The unfair '39-country ban' has been lifted

Last year, USCIS suspended the processing of immigration benefits for nationals of 39 countries. On June 5th, a federal judge ruled that this policy is unlawful. The decision requires USCIS to resume processing all of the suspended applications (including citizenship interviews and oath ceremonies).

The judge said that USCIS lacked any legal basis to impose an indefinite suspension of immigration benefits. Multiple laws and regulations related to applications, including naturalization, declared that the government “shall” make decisions in regular order — meaning that the government lacked authority to refuse to adjudicate applications entirely.

He ruled that USCIS’ decisions to implement the policy were arbitrary and capricious (not based on a reasoned explanation) and held that the administration’s intent for the policies was rooted in unlawful bigotry against immigrants from certain countries.

The decision went into effect immediately, requiring USCIS to begin processing applications from nationals of all 39 countries again.

On June 12, the Department of Justice filed an appeal and requested a stay to halt the court’s June 5 order while the appeal is pending. The stay was denied on July 15, which ensures that the original ruling remains fully active and that USCIS is legally required to continue adjudication of affected cases while the higher court reviews the case.

So for now, as the American Immigration Council puts it, "the Trump administration’s policy of openly discriminating against people on the basis of where they were born, not the content of their character or their individual circumstances, has been blocked."

Posted: to Citizenship News on Thu, Jul 23, 2026
Updated: Thu, Jul 23, 2026