On August 24, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction in Red Eagle Law, L.C., et al. v. Joseph B. Edlow, No. 26-cv-04850-CRB, halting USCIS's blanket hold on benefit adjudications for individuals from countries designated under the travel ban proclamations. The injunction targets two USCIS policy memoranda: PM-602-0192, issued December 2, 2025, which paused all asylum and benefit applications from nationals of high-risk countries, and PM-602-0194, issued January 1, 2026, which expanded that hold to a broader review of pending benefit applications. The court's order directs USCIS to resume adjudicating applications that had been frozen under these memoranda for the affected population.

Following the ruling, USCIS issued a press alert on August 28, 2026, confirming it would comply with the court-granted class certification. The certified class covers individuals who are citizens or nationals of one of the 39 countries named in Presidential Proclamations 10949 or 10998, or of the Palestinian Authority, and who fall into one of two categories: those with a pending Form I-589 asylum application, or those with any other benefit application pending before USCIS. To qualify, the application must be one that was subject to the adjudication hold under PM-602-0192 or PM-602-0194 and remains without a final decision as of the date of class certification.

For clients and prospective clients from an affected country with a pending case, this development means USCIS should now be moving forward on adjudications that had been indefinitely stalled a meaningful shift after months of uncertainty for applicants whose asylum claims, adjustment applications, or other benefit requests sat untouched. That said, this is a preliminary injunction, not a final resolution of the underlying litigation. USCIS itself has flagged the possibility of further judicial review, which means the government could appeal or seek a stay, and the scope or duration of the current relief could change.

Given the fluidity of this situation, we recommend that anyone with a pending application affected by these memoranda or anyone unsure whether their case falls within the certified class reach out to our office for a case-specific review. Eligibility for relief under this injunction can depend on the specific country of citizenship, the type of application filed, and the procedural posture of the case, so individualized guidance matters here.

If you have questions about how this ruling may affect your immigration case, please contact Agarwal Law Group at 703-348-1663 to schedule a consultation with our team.

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