HIAS welcomes today’s decision in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS, which halts the administration’s unlawful policy of refusing to process immigration applications submitted by people from countries targeted by its sweeping travel bans.
The lawsuit challenged several policies under which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stopped adjudicating immigration applications filed by nationals of 39 countries covered by the administration’s travel restrictions. While USCIS continued to collect filing fees from applicants, it refused to process a wide range of applications, including those for green cards, work permits, and other immigration benefits. Particularly egregiously, the policy also placed an across-the-board halt to asylum adjudications regardless of the applicant’s country of origin, which had the potential for life-or-death consequences.
“For months, USCIS has not processed any immigration applications for people who happen to be from the 39 countries included in the Administration’s travel bans—from green cards to work permits to asylum,” said Beth Oppenheim, HIAS President & CEO. “We welcome today’s decision in Dorcas International v. USCIS that so clearly lays out the cruel and arbitrary nature of that policy and puts a halt to it. Today’s victory is another example of why impact litigation matters, and why HIAS and our partners have filed repeated legal challenges to the Trump administration’s assault on immigrants and refugees.”
Today’s decision is an important victory for immigrants, refugees, and the rule of law. It underscored above all that USCIS is not free to arbitrarily and cruelly exclude specific populations of people from being able to access immigration benefits, and that policy-making driven by animus against people due to their race, religion, or nationality can never stand.
HIAS will never stop our advocacy for immigrants and asylum seekers to be treated with fairness, dignity, and equal protection under the law.
For information on HIAS’ impact litigation see here.
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