No Borders NewsOn Aug. 24, 2026, a U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California issued an order in Red Eagle Law, L.C., et al. v. Joseph B. Edlow that blocks USCIS from applying two specific “hold” policy memoranda, identified as PM 602-0192 and PM 602-0194.
USCIS says the court’s order enjoins (halts) those hold policies and directs the agency to adjudicate affected applications through its regular process. USCIS also notes it strongly disagrees with the court’s decision, but will comply with the order while the case may be reviewed further.
The court also granted class certification. The certified class includes people who are citizens or nationals of certain countries named in Presidential Proclamations 10949 or 10998 (or the Palestinian Authority), and who have an asylum application (Form I-589) pending, or another benefit application pending with USCIS, that is subject to the USCIS adjudication hold under PM 602-0192 or PM 602-0194 and has not received a final decision as of the date the class was certified.
USCIS explains that the two policy memoranda were issued to enhance screening and vetting, based on the cited presidential proclamations related to national security and public safety. USCIS says it will issue updated instructions as litigation developments continue.
This is a court-ordered change to how USCIS must handle certain pending cases while the legal challenge proceeds. For the most accurate details about who is covered and how USCIS will implement the order, readers should review the USCIS alert and the underlying court order through the official links.