A federal judge in Columbus, Ohio has ordered US immigration authorities to resume processing green card and work-permit applications for a group of people whose cases had been frozen indefinitely because of where they were born. On July 6, 2026, US District Judge Algenon L. Marbley granted a preliminary injunction in a case brought by 25 people living lawfully in the United States — citizens of Burma, Canada, Iran, Nigeria, Syria, Tanzania and Venezuela — who argued that US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had unlawfully paused their pending applications and treated their nationality as grounds for suspicion. The ruling requires USCIS to start deciding those applications again, and it adds to a growing line of federal court decisions against the same policy.
Background
The plaintiffs are already living in the United States, some for years, with prior work authorization, and include a hospital pharmacist, a registered nurse, a cancer researcher receiving federal funding, college graduates with pending job offers in science and engineering, a university professor, and couples raising families. Their pending applications for green cards (adjustment of status), travel documents and work permits had been placed on an indefinite hold under a USCIS policy alert and related memoranda directing officers to pause adjudication for applicants from countries covered by the administration's travel restrictions, and to weigh that nationality as a "significant and negative factor" in deciding cases. The underlying policy has reportedly been applied more broadly to nationals of dozens of countries designated under a presidential proclamation, and this Ohio case is one of several now working through federal courts around the country.
What the judge ordered
Judge Marbley preliminarily barred USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin from applying the challenged policy to any of the 25 plaintiffs' pending applications. The order directs USCIS to resume adjudicating their Form I-485 (adjustment of status), Form I-131 (travel document) and Form I-765 (work authorization) applications, with I-765 applications specifically required to be decided within 30 days. The government must also file a written report within 30 days showing how it has complied. In his written order, Marbley rejected the government's national-security justification for the freeze, writing that national security cannot be "a talisman used to ward off inconvenient claims." He also pointed to public statements by the administration about which immigrants it does and does not welcome as evidence that the policy was not a neutral security measure.
Before vs after (for these plaintiffs)
- Before: pending green card, travel-document and work-permit applications were paused indefinitely, with nationality treated as a negative factor in any eventual decision.
- After: USCIS must resume deciding the applications, with work-permit renewals due within 30 days.
- Unchanged: an injunction does not guarantee approval — it requires the agency to actually make a decision on the merits.
Who it affects
Directly, this ruling covers only the 25 named plaintiffs in the Ohio case. But it follows the same pattern as earlier rulings this year in Massachusetts and Maryland against the same USCIS policy, and it affects a recognizable group: people already living and working in the US on visas, work permits or pending green card applications, who come from a country on the administration's restricted list and have been waiting, sometimes for months, without a yes or no answer. A skilled worker mid-way through an employer-sponsored green card process, or a spouse of a US citizen with a pending adjustment-of-status case, are typical examples of who this kind of freeze has hit hardest.
What this means in practice
Anyone with a pending USCIS application from one of the seven countries named in this case, or from another country covered by the same policy, should ask an immigration attorney whether this ruling, or one of the related Massachusetts or Maryland cases, applies to their situation. Court orders like this one typically bind the government only with respect to the specific plaintiffs unless a broader class is certified, so it does not change visa eligibility rules themselves; anyone assessing a US move should still check current requirements on our United States guide at /country-guides/united-states. Processing for nationals of certain countries is currently being fought out case by case in federal court, and outcomes can differ by jurisdiction.
When it takes effect
The injunction was granted July 6, 2026, and requires USCIS to resume adjudication immediately for the named plaintiffs, with pending work-permit applications due within 30 days and a compliance report due from the government within 30 days.
What is not yet confirmed
The exact case name and docket number could not be independently verified from public sources at time of writing. It is not yet known whether the government will appeal, whether the ruling will be extended to a broader class of affected applicants beyond the 25 plaintiffs, or how it interacts with similar pending rulings in other states.
Key Takeaway
A federal judge has ordered USCIS to stop freezing green card and work-permit applications based on nationality alone, but for now the order protects only the 25 people who sued.