A federal judge in Rhode Island reprimanded Trump administration officials this Friday for not immediately complying with his order to lift the general pause on asylum decisions and to resume the indefinitely suspended immigration processing for dozens of countries, according to reported The Washington Post.
Judge John J. McConnell Jr., of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, stated that there was "no excuse" for the failure to comply with his ruling, issued just a week prior.
The case, identified as Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island et al. v. USCIS et al., was initiated by non-governmental organizations and unions representing millions of individuals with pending immigration applications.
The judge McConnell had issued his initial order on June 5, invalidating four policies of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): the global asylum suspension policy, the benefits suspension policy, the comprehensive review policy, and the country-specific factors policy.
The magistrate concluded that those policies violated the Administrative Procedure Law and left the affected individuals in an "indeterminate legal limbo" based solely on their country of birth.
The final ruling was issued last Wednesday, and the reprimand on Friday occurred because the administration did not comply with the resolution immediately.
The revoked policies had frozen all applications for immigration benefits for nationals from 39 countries, including Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen.
The affected processes included asylum, work permits, permanent residence cards, naturalizations, and citizenship ceremonies.
The Trump administration justified the restrictions following the shooting on November 26, 2025, in Washington D.C., where two National Guard members were shot: one died and the other was seriously injured.
The measures were formalized through presidential proclamations and USCIS policy memos issued between June and December 2025, with the argument of protecting national security due to a lack of background checks.
On March 30, 2026, the administration had partially lifted the asylum pause for countries deemed "low risk," but maintained the freeze for the 39 countries included in the immigration ban.
After the final ruling, USCIS published an official alert in which it acknowledged the order and stated that it "strongly disagrees" with the ruling, but will comply with its terms "while a possible additional judicial review is considered."
The episode reflects the growing tension between the Executive and Judicial branches regarding immigration during Trump's second administration, in which the courts have repeatedly blocked immigration restriction policies that the government has been slow to comply with or has openly challenged.
Judge McConnell's admonition places the administration at a crossroads: comply with the order immediately or face potential consequences for contempt, while it considers whether to appeal the ruling to a higher court.
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