Over the past two years, USCIS has enacted several immigration policies related to the Trump Travel Ban Countries – a list of 39 countries that the Trump Administration has used to restrict entry or suspend admission of foreign nationals from those countries. 

Stemming from those executive orders, USCIS instituted four policies that not only restricted entry of foreign nationals from those Travel Ban countries, but also delayed or halted immigration processing of their cases. 

These four USCIS policies included:

• Global Asylum Hold Policy – a blanket hold on processing all applications for asylum and withholding of removal, regardless of country
• Benefits Hold Policy – a hold that prevented final adjudication of benefit requests for aliens from the 39 travel ban countries, including Adjustment of Status, Naturalization, Employment Authorization
• Comprehensive Re-Review Policy – a policy that required USCIS to re-examine anyone from the 39 travel ban countries who received approval for any immigration benefit on or after January 20, 2021, based on no identified risk factor but solely on country of origin and date of approval
• Country-Specific Factors Policy – a policy that instructed immigration adjudicators of discretionary benefit requests such as immigrant visas to automatically deem an applicant's country of origin as a negative factor if they originated from one of the 39 travel ban countries

As a result of these policies, immigrants and refugees from the 39 Travel Ban Countries have reported they have experienced significant delays in the processing of their applications and have received requests to review their previously-approved benefits. While USCIS has continued to accept new applications, no new final decisions have been issued for immigrants from the Travel Ban Countries. 

The delay in green card approvals, employment authorization renewals, naturalization decisions, and many other benefits has created significant stress and uncertainty for immigration families, as it results in prolonged separation, inability to obtain permanent status, uncertainty regarding work authorization, and delays in obtaining immigration benefits for which they may otherwise qualify.

On June 5th, a federal judge held that the USCIS delays and holds in processing related the Trump Travel Ban were unlawful. The policies were vacated and set aside by the judge, who held that the policies were arbitrary, capricious, discriminatory, and against the law. 

We are excited about this legal victory, as it was one of the most significant challenges to the USCIS "hold and review" policies related to the Trump Travel Ban. However, the decision did not explicitly direct USCIS to begin issuing approvals, and further litigation on appeal is expected. We are hoping to see positive impacts on pending USCIS applications for adjustment of status, naturalization, employment authorizations, asylum, and other immigration benefits. 

We are hoping to see positive impacts on pending USCIS applications for adjustment of status, naturalization, employment authorizations, asylum, and other immigration benefits. 

Our law firm will continue to provide updates on this decision. Click the button to download an informational flyer from the Afghan-American Community Organization (AACP) with more details.