Federal Judge Partially Blocks USCIS Processing Freeze for 22 Foreign Nationals

A federal judge in Massachusetts partially blocked two USCIS policies connected to the administration’s expanded travel ban.

On April 30, U.S. District Judge Julia E. Kobick granted part of the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction. This type of court order can temporarily stop the government from enforcing a policy while a lawsuit continues.

The ruling applies to two USCIS policies:

• The adjudicative hold policy: a USCIS directive that paused final decisions on certain immigration applications.
• The significant negative factor policy: a USCIS rule that allowed officers to treat a person’s nationality as a negative factor in certain immigration decisions.

Judge Kobick ordered that USCIS must lift the adjudicative hold for 22 plaintiffs who submitted sworn declarations describing how the freeze harmed them. She also ruled that USCIS cannot apply the significant negative factor policy to their pending adjustment of status and work permit applications.

The decision does not block the policies nationwide, and it does not automatically restart every frozen case. It also does not require USCIS to approve the plaintiffs’ petitions. 

Today’s decision follows an unrelated court ruling that ordered USCIS to resume Green Card processing for 83 immigrants.

What will happen next

The lawsuit includes about 200 plaintiffs, but only 22 had filed declarations with the court.

Because of that, the judge gave immediate relief only to those 22 people. For the rest, she ordered both sides to confer, which means their lawyers and the government must discuss who else may qualify for the same protection.

What happens next depends on several factors:

• For the remaining plaintiffs: The parties must confer and file a status report by May 7 saying who else should be covered.
• If both sides agree: Those foreign nationals can be added to the order without further dispute.
• If both sides disagree: Plaintiffs must submit the contested declarations by May 11, and the judge will then decide.

What this means for foreign nationals impacted by the processing freeze

Manifest immigration attorney Ana Gabriela Urizar says this ruling may be encouraging for anyone whose case paused because of these USCIS policies. However, it does not mean the federal agency must resume processing every affected case.

She explains: “Right now, the order only directly affects the 22 plaintiffs who submitted declarations in this lawsuit. But the ruling still matters for people outside that group because of the judge’s reasoning. Since the court found that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in arguing that USCIS acted unlawfully, this opens a pathway for more legal challenges.”

This is a developing story. Manifest’s attorneys will continue to monitor the case and watch for any USCIS response or further court updates.