A US court has ordered the cancellation of several immigration policies implemented by the President Donald Trump administration.

The ruling paves the way for immigrants from 39 affected countries to pursue political asylum, green cards, and other legal immigration benefits. Reuters reports.

On Friday (June 5), US Federal Judge John McConnell of Rhode Island struck down a suite of policies adopted by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

According to the judge, these policies had plunged individuals from dozens of countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East into extreme "legal limbo."

Judge John McConnell noted that the affected immigrants had followed all legal procedures in accordance with laws enacted by Congress and USCIS regulations.

Despite this, they were forced to wait for months because USCIS refused to make decisions on their applications.

In the ruling, the judge added, "The suspension of the USCIS adjudication process is not due to any fault of these individuals; it has occurred solely because of their birthplace."

The verdict is being viewed as a major victory for immigrant advocacy organizations and labor unions, which filed a lawsuit against these controversial USCIS policies last March.

The Trump administration intensified its anti-immigration crackdown following a November shooting targeting two National Guard members on duty in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors claimed that an Afghan immigrant carried out the attack. As part of that crackdown, USCIS adopted these restrictive policies.

Following the incident, Trump announced on social media that immigration from all "Third World countries" would be permanently suspended "until the US system is fully restored."

Concurrently, his administration increased the number of countries under full or partial travel bans to 39.

Countries under the full travel ban included Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti, Somalia, Venezuela, and Syria. The Trump administration maintained that these travel bans were imposed for security vetting and protection purposes.

The policies adopted by USCIS resulted in the suspension of immigration application processing for citizens of those 39 countries.

In Judge McConnell's words, this left "countless lives put on hold—solely because of where they were born."

He further stated in his ruling, "The rule of law applies equally to all. It is clear that USCIS failed to follow the law and act properly.

Instead, the agency violated immigration laws and the administrative laws designated to govern its operations."