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A federal judge who had previously made about $500,000 in campaign contributions to Democrats vacated Trump administration immigration policies that halted asylum processing and froze immigration benefits based on nationality.
Have you taken your place on the wall?
The judge, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the District of Rhode Island, is a Barack Obama appointee.
The case was based on the administration’s travel ban from certain countries, which was put in place after an immigrant shot at National Guard troops in Washington, D.C. last November. Plaintiffs, a coalition of immigration groups and labor unions, argued the policies violated federal immigration law, the U.S. Constitution, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The groups sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which processes asylum applications, work permits, green cards, and citizenship applications.
“The agency announced that it would be placing an indefinite pause on the adjudication of immigration benefit requests for individuals from thirty-nine African, Asian, Latin American, and Middle Eastern countries,” McConnell wrote in his Friday ruling.
“Since then, individuals from these countries have been categorically barred from receiving final decisions on, among other things, their asylum, work permit, green card, and citizenship applications,” McConnell added. “And USCIS’s hold on adjudications cannot be attributed to anything that these individuals did wrong; rather, it arises solely by the happenstance of their birth.”
Plaintiffs include Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island; Refugee Dream Center; Service Employees International Union (SEIU); International Union; United Automobile; Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW); African Communities Together (ACT); Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts (VAM); Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA); and American Gateways.
“Today is a good day. On behalf of the thousands of immigrants we serve, we are grateful to Judge McConnell for his ruling. These policies were wrong, plain and simple, and caused profound fear and uncertainty for so many of our friends, neighbors, and coworkers,” Milagro Sique, CEO of Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, said in a public statement. “Having the judicial process work as intended—by upholding the rule of law—gives us some reassurance that all is not lost and allows those who have been impacted to move forward with their lives in a meaningful way.”
McConnell previously sided with a coalition of Democrat state attorneys general to stop a federal funding freeze. In another case, he sided with the blue state of Rhode Island regarding federal funding cuts
McConnell’s contributions include $28,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which funds House candidates, in 2008, according to Open Secrets, which monitors money in politics.
He contributed $25,000 toward the election of Democrat North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in 2000, $12,500 to the Washington State Democratic Party in 2008; $10,000 to the Rhode Island Democratic Party in 2004; and $7,500 to Wisconsin Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle’s reelection in 2006.
In total, he contributed $190,000 to members of Congress and at least $200,000 combined to the Democrat Party at the national and state level, CQ Roll Call reported.
The donations came before he ascended to the federal bench. Obama nominated McConnell for the judgeship in March 2010, but the Senate didn’t confirm him until May 2011 by a 50-44 vote.
The judge’s wife, Sara Shea McConnell, has also been a major donor to Democrats, according to both Open Secrets and Roll Call, contributing $250,000 to Democrat candidates. She also contributed $4,200 to the campaigns of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
