USCIS Has Been Ordered to End “Pause” on Processing Applications Filed by Nationals of 39 Countries
Many thanks to the integrity and bravery of Judge John McConnell of the District Court of Rhode Island for this decision striking down USCIS’ rule to stop processing applications from nationals of 39 countries for nothing more than their place of birth.
“But the rule of law has to apply to everyone equally and, as evident here, USCIS has neither “followed the law” nor “done things the right way.” Indeed, the agency has violated the very immigration laws that Congress has charged it with administering…. In enacting its latest immigration policies, USCIS: claims statutory and regulatory authority that it does not possess; makes decisions without the reasoned explanations
that it must provide; acts without regard for the reliance interests of applicants that it must consider; and justifies its actions with pretextual concerns of “national security” that mask anti immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making. In legal terms that means USCIS’s actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.”
Who does this impact? One example – countless healthcare workers born in Haiti who’ve lived and worked in this country for more than 10 yrs may finally get work permit renewals approved by USCIS and go back to work.
