Federal judge vacates USCIS asylum processing hold for 39 countries as arbitrary and capricious under APA

A federal district judge vacated the USCIS directive suspending asylum processing for nationals of 39 countries, ruling the agency action arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. The court found USCIS had failed to provide country-specific security findings to justify the blanket hold and had bypassed the notice-and-comment process required for a rule with this level of legal effect on applicants' rights. The ruling ordered USCIS to resume processing within 30 days.