Atlanta judge keeps Trump’s halt on immigration applications, for now

A federal judge in Atlanta will not lift an indefinite pause on the processing of immigration applications by people from countries identified by President Donald Trump as security risks, but says he might in future.

The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg denies interim relief to at least 265 immigrants legally in the United States who are applying to lawfully remain in the country. They include students and specialist workers.

Most of the plaintiffs in the case are from Iran, though others hail from over a dozen countries in Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, South America and the Middle East. Their applications for residency, employment authorization and citizenship are going nowhere under Trump’s directives and associated policies of his administration.

In his order, Grimberg acknowledged that some of the plaintiffs must leave the country in coming months if their applications to stay longer remain untouched by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He said he’ll reconsider the plaintiffs’ request to lift the administrative hold on their applications if the federal government hasn’t done so in 60 days.

“Each day that the hold remains in place is another day closer to the expiration of plaintiffs’ lawful status and work authorization,” he said.

The Department of Justice, which is defending the federal government in the case, and lawyers for the plaintiffs did not comment Thursday on the ruling.

The case, filed in January against USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security, challenges immigration policies stemming from Trump’s so-called travel bans that placed up to 39 countries on a high-risk list.

Under the policies, most people from those countries who are already in the United States legally cannot get any further in their applications to stay longer.

Court records show USCIS is changing its application review methods that now include more focus on “country-specific risk factors.”

The federal government asked Grimberg to dismiss the case as meritless and improperly filed, arguing in part that it has not made a final decision about how to handle the plaintiffs’ immigration applications.

Grimberg has yet to decide the government’s request to end the case. In his order Wednesday, he indicated the uncertain nature of the government’s handling of the applications weighs in the plaintiffs’ favor.

“The fact that defendants are improving their screening and vetting processes — as one hopes they would be doing anyway in perpetuity — does not change the fact that plaintiffs currently have no path to a decision on their applications,” the judge said.

In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim the administrative hold on their applications is unreasonable and unlawful, as is the government’s use of their national origin as “a negative factor.”

Grimberg said he decided to keep the hold in place for now because the plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed in showing that the government’s heightened security focus is unreasonable.

He suggested the merits of the case hinge on timing, noting that the government can’t ignore the plaintiffs’ applications forever.

Without their applications decided, the plaintiffs face the risk of arrest and deportation as well as the prospect of working illegally to survive, the judge said.

“If the hold were lifted today, it would mark a relatively short, albeit still difficult, episode in plaintiffs’ lives,” he said. “But if the hold remains in place for a significant amount of time, with no end in sight, the conclusion becomes inescapable that defendants have no intention of adjudicating plaintiffs’ applications and are instead fighting a battle of attrition against these civilians.”