A U.S. federal judge on Friday overturned a series of restrictions on legal immigration imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration after Afghan immigrants shot and killed National Guard members last year.
District Judge John McConnell said restrictions on the processing of asylum, work permit, green card and citizenship applications from nationals of 39 African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries were unlawful.
The restrictions were imposed after the November 26, 2025, shooting death of two National Guard soldiers in Washington by an Afghan man who immigrated to the United States after the Taliban took over Kabul. One National Guard member was killed in the attack.
McConnell wrote in a scathing 135-page ruling that the restrictive policies enacted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “have plunged the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into an uncertain legal limbo.”
The judge said: “The Immigration Service’s reservation of the ruling cannot be attributed to these men doing anything wrong; rather, it is entirely due to the accident of their birth.”
“Six months later, many of these people are still without jobs, without legal status and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures,” McConnell said.
He said USCIS was using “the excuse of ‘national security’ to mask anti-immigrant sentiment” when imposing the restrictions.
“The court was reminded of an oft-repeated refrain in discussions about immigration policy: If people wish to immigrate to the United States, they should ‘obey the law’ and ‘do things the right way,'” the judge said.
“This case is a perfect example of immigrants doing just that.”
-“arbitrary and capricious”-
McConnell, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, said his role was not to adjudicate on the “wisdom of the administration’s policy choices” but to determine whether those choices were “consistent with the law.”
“The court concludes that they did not,” he wrote. “USCIS’s actions are unlawful, arbitrary and capricious.”
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of the advocacy group Democracy Forward, welcomed the ruling, saying it “reaffirms a fundamental principle: The federal government cannot close legal immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on their origins.”
“These illegal policies are causing tremendous harm to families, workers, asylum seekers and communities across the country, leaving them trapped without the ability to work, gain protection or move on with their lives,” Perryman said in a statement.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling.
James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, said in an X post that the ruling showed left-wing bias.
“This is vandalism disguised as legality. Here’s the thing: the government is racist, therefore the policy I don’t like is racially motivated, and therefore it is ineffective,” Percival wrote.
Trump entered the White House promising to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, and after the National Guard shootings, he said he planned to “permanently stop immigration from all third world countries.”
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who is accused of shooting at a guard just blocks from the White House, was a member of the CIA-backed “Partner Force” fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
He entered the United States as part of a resettlement program following the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
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This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
