BOSTON—A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked US President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing a new rule that would cut the amount of time refugees have to contest decisions to strip them of their legal status to 10 days from 30 days.
• US District Judge Julia Kobick in Boston issued an order that through November 6 puts on hold the rule issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services on October 14
• Refugee advocacy groups sought the order as part of a lawsuit filed on Monday challenging the rule and a plan for a broader review of refugees
• Kobick said the USCIS rule should be put on hold to preserve the status quo until the case could be heard by a colleague
• Erez Reuveni of Democracy Forward, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the decision “provides meaningful protection for people who were already facing termination notices”
• USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler in a statement called the lawsuit a “frivolous attempt to disrupt the Trump administration’s commitment to enforce our country’s immigration laws as intended by Congress”
• The US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, had estimated the new rule would affect as many as 186,000 refugees
By Nate Raymond
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
