USCIS has issued a June 12 alert, “Court Order on Hold Policies.” This alert advises that on June 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island issued an order in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, et al. v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, et al., 26-cv-00132-JJM-PAS (D.RI.), vacating the following USCIS directives:
- PM 602-0192 and PM 602-0194: These policy memos required:
- Benefits Hold Policy: Hold and review of certain benefit requests by applicants from “countries of concern.”
- Comprehensive Re-Review Policy: Re-review of approved benefit requests by applicants from “countries of concern” who entered the U.S. on or after Jan. 20, 2021.
- Global Asylum Hold Policy: This required “hold” and “review” of all asylum applications regardless of the applicant’s nationality.
- PA 2025-26: This Country-Specific Factors Policy required that, for nationals from a “country of concern” applying for discretionary immigration benefits, USCIS will consider as a “significant negative factor” the country’s insufficient vetting and screening information shared with the United States.
Those directives are discussed in our firm’s article, Following National Guard Shooting, Immigration Restrictions Imposed on Afghans, Nationals of 39 “Countries of Concern”, and Asylum Applicants (Jan. 1 Update).
The Court entered its final judgment on June 11, 2026. The order went into effect immediately.
USCIS states that it “strongly disagrees with the Court’s order but will follow its terms pending possible further judicial review.” So, USCIS states, those directives should be treated as if they are not in effect.
On June 12, USCIS filed an appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Our firm will keep clients apprised of developments in the pending litigation.
Leave a Reply