A federal judge in Maryland ordered to reactivate Green Card applications for 83 immigrant plaintiffs, declaring the indefinite suspension imposed by the Trump administration illegal.
The immediate question for thousands of affected Cubans is whether that ruling also benefits them.
The answer is clear, according to immigration lawyer Liudmila Marcelo, in an interview granted to CiberCuba: "It only benefits the 83 plaintiffs. It only benefits them, but it is indicative that there is no legal basis to maintain this pause, which we have always known, but well, it is indicative."
The ruling, consisting of 39 pages, was issued last Sunday by Judge George L. Russell III of the Maryland District Court, who concluded that "USCIS does not have the discretion to not adjudicate cases at all" and that the agency "cannot suspend them indefinitely without processing them."
Marcelo cautioned that the government could appeal the decision, but emphasized that the ruling opens a concrete avenue: "Someone who urgently needs to obtain their green card or citizenship can sue the government and is likely to win that lawsuit."
However, the lawyer emphasized that participating in this kind of legal action involves financial costs and does not guarantee results: "In these types of lawsuits, I always say there are lawyers who handle this kind of case, and of course, they always say that results are not guaranteed; therefore, it's always an economic decision if one wants to participate." She clarified that those who do not participate will not benefit from the outcome.
Marcelo also announced that he will begin to present writs of mandamus —legal remedies that compel USCIS to process stalled applications— during May, using the judge's reasoning as support: “There is now, exactly, there is reasoning from a judge that one can perhaps rely on and apply this type of reasoning in our mandamus petitions as well.”
Until now, the lawyer had avoided filing those motions to prevent giving the government an excuse to invoke the pause. With the court ruling, that argument now lacks legal support.
The impact of the pause on Cubans has been devastating. Green Card approvals for Cubans dropped by 99.8%, falling from 10,984 in February 2025 to just 15 in January 2026.
The suspension began on February 14, 2025, when USCIS halted residency processing for beneficiaries of the CHNV program, and was expanded in December 2025 to nationals from 39 countries, including Cuba.
In parallel, ICE detentions of Cubans increased by 463% since October 2024, according to data from the Cato Institute.
In March 2026, a new federal class action sought to reactivate over 100,000 applications from Cubans that had been stalled.
Marcelo was clear about the urgency to act: "I have already said on several occasions that I am only giving this upcoming month of May, and by June I think if the pause hasn't ended, we need to start taking action."
The lawyer also warned that the situation is financially exhausting for those affected, most of whom do not even have work permits while they await a resolution.
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