A federal judge in Washington blocked a Trump administration policy that prevented detained immigrants from completing the fingerprint screenings required to apply for legal status.
In his ruling Wednesday, Judge Amir H. Ali called the December policy “arbitrary and capricious” and ordered the government to resume collecting biometric information from detainees with pending applications while the lawsuit proceeds.
Amir said that the government, without any explanation, “effectively denies immigration relief to a whole category of people irrespective of their eligibility for the status they have applied for.”
A group of detained immigrants filed the class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration in April, claiming the Department of Homeland Security intentionally blocked them from legal status by denying them the required screenings. Some of the plaintiffs involved had already been held in detention centers for over a year, and many are proven survivors of “child abuse, domestic violence and human trafficking,” the ruling says.
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The group’s claim that the policy was unlawful is likely valid, Ali wrote, because Justice Department officials had not offered a “rational explanation” for implementing new biometrics rules.
The administration said the policy deters the filing of “frivolous claims and provides operational consistency.” But the court agreed with the plaintiffs that the rule largely blocked legitimate applicants, adding that collecting biometrics helps officials verify identities and conduct background checks.
When the judge asked government lawyers during a hearing how the policy served its stated goals, an attorney responded: “That’s a good question. I don’t have an answer to that right now,” the ruling states.
Ali’s order suspends the policy for any detained immigrants with pending U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services applications — rejecting the administration’s argument that relief should apply only to those named in the initial legal complaint.
The ruling does not grant anyone a visa or resolve the case. Ali declined to issue a separate preliminary injunction to that end, finding that suspension of the policy was sufficient for now.
The administration must report back to the court concerning compliance with the injunction by Oct. 21.
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