Trump administration defies court order to resume immigration processing for 39 countries

Six days after U.S. District Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. vacated the administration's freeze on asylum decisions, green cards, work permits, and other immigration adjudications for nationals of 39 countries, the government had still not resumed processing. On June 11, 2026, after a coalition of unions and nonprofits filed an emergency motion to enforce, McConnell ordered the administration to file a status report within 24 hours detailing its compliance and wrote that "there is no excuse this time."

When a federal court vacates an agency policy, the executive is obligated to comply at once — that immediacy is how judicial review and the separation of powers actually function. Six days after the court struck down the freeze, with affected immigrants' cases still frozen, the administration had not resumed processing, prompting the judge's demand and his warning.

A government that treats a binding court order as optional, or slow-walks it while people's cases sit frozen, weakens the courts' power to check unlawful action and denies affected immigrants the process the law guarantees. A court order the executive can ignore is no check at all.