USCIS Defies Court Order- Green Cards and Work Permits Still Stuck | EIKOS Global

[00:00:00]A federal judge just ruled a major immigration policy illegal, void, dead, and no longer in effect. But the government kept enforcing it anyway, and now that same judge has given USCIS just 24 hours to explain why.

[00:00:17]Hi everybody, I'm Neha Upadhyay, and this is Eco's Global. So, here's what's going on. Earlier this month, on June 5th, a court struck down a set of policies that USCIS had been using to pause or heavily delay processing for green cards, work permits, and citizenship, specifically for people from 39 countries, mostly across Africa, Asia, and South America. These were tied to a broader travel ban. The court said that these policies were invalid, done.

[00:00:49]Should have been the end of it. But it wasn't. Immigrant advocacy groups went back to court this week and said USCIS is still applying these same policies, even after they were struck down. People are still being denied green cards, citizenship, work permits, as if the ruling never happened.

[00:01:08]So, the judge, John, he came back Thursday night, and this time he wasn't being subtle. His exact words were, "There is no excuse this time." And he gave USCIS 24 hours to file a report showing exactly how they are complying.

[00:01:23]He also made sure that there was zero room for confusion. He said, "When a court strikes down a policy, it's void, of no effect." And he added, "To be perfectly clear, the policies are no longer in effect." So, how did the government respond to that? They filed an appeal the very next day. USCIS released a statement saying that they strongly disagree with the order, but will follow its terms while this continues through litigation. Now, let's look at what these policies actually were, because this matters for a lot of people. Four policies got struck down.

[00:02:00]One was a benefits hold, basically freezing certain applications. Another was a broad asylum-related hold. There was a re-review policy and one that applied different risk levels depending on which country you are from.

[00:02:15]All four were used to delay or block green cards, work permits, pretty much any benefit for people from those 39 countries.

[00:02:24]One advocacy group used an analogy that really stuck with me. They compared it to walking into a grocery store, paying for your items, and the store takes your money but won't give you the items and won't refund you either.

[00:02:39]Why? Because they don't like which family you are from. Though you entered legally with clean records, contributing to the community, but you were just told to wait. Some people in this case have been waiting almost 7 months.

[00:02:53]Separately from this court battle, there is another change worth knowing about, specifically if you are a green card holder thinking about starting a business.

[00:03:02]The Small Business Administration changed its rule. Until recently, green card holders could get federal loans to start a small business, and according to the new rule, only US citizens can apply now. Green card holders are out, and there used to be an exception allowing up to 5% foreign ownership on a business, and that has gone, too.

[00:03:24]So, even if this 39-country pause doesn't directly affect you, if you are a green card holder with business plans, this is a quite change that just happened. Now, let's talk about what makes this story different. It's not just another policy being challenged. A federal judge ordered compliance, and the government's actual response was, "We disagree, but fine for now while we appeal."

[00:03:49]That tells you something important. Even when courts rule against these policies, there's often a real gap between what the ruling says and what's actually happening to people's applications on the ground.

[00:04:01]So, if you or someone you know has a green card, work permit, or citizenship application stuck somewhere tied to one of these 39 countries, the legal situation might technically be in your favor right now. But, what USCIS is actually doing day-to-day might still be catching up.

[00:04:21]The advocacy group's spokesperson put it bluntly. They said, "If USCIS isn't even following court orders, no one knows what this means for this country going forward. And the only option left is to keep fighting it in the court." So, here's the takeaway. A policy being struck down on paper doesn't always mean things change immediately in practice.

[00:04:41]If your case has been sitting in limbo, this is exactly the kind of story worth tracking because how USCIS responds in the coming weeks would directly affect when your case actually moves.

[00:04:54]So, if this was useful, hit the subscribe button. We are following this one closely, and if you know someone whose application has been stuck for months with zero updates, send this to their way because at least knowing why it's stuck helps you plan it out. So, this is Neha Upadhyay signing off.