Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services(en inglés)

Decidido

2026-06-05

Resumen

Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. vacated four related USCIS policies — including PM-602-0194's automatic hold on final decisions for pending benefit applications (naturalization, family- and employment-based petitions, adjustment of status, work permits, and asylum) from nationals of about 39 countries designated "high-risk." The court held USCIS exceeded its statutory authority, failed to adequately explain the change in policy, and relied on pretextual national-security justifications — a straightforward Administrative Procedure Act violation, not a ruling on immigration policy merits.

Estado actual

The government appealed to the First Circuit (No. 26-1703); a stay of the vacatur pending appeal was denied on July 15, 2026, so the vacatur remains in effect. The district court separately had to order the government to show compliance after finding the holds were still being applied six days after the original order. Relief has generally applied to certified classes/plaintiffs rather than automatically to every case nationwide, so this app can't confirm from the status API alone whether a specific case has actually resumed normal processing.