There has been celebration in the U.S. immigrants’ communities after a federal judge on Friday vacated a series of President Donald Trump’s policies which were enacted after a deadly attack on National Guard members.

With the ruling, immigration agencies are now mandated to once again process applications from citizens of 39 countries across the world. 

In addition to resuming processing immigration benefits, Mr Trump’s administration will also need to schedule naturalisation ceremonies for thousands of immigrants who are about to become U.S. citizens.

During last Thanksgiving, Mr Trump barred the processing of any immigration application for those from 39 travel ban countries, thereby halting their ability to get green cards, which led to widespread cancellation of naturalisation ceremonies. 

The U.S. president also put a stop to the processing of asylum claims from any country and ordered a review of all immigration benefits bestowed to those from the 39 travel ban countries under former President Joe Biden.

However, a U.S. District Judge, John McConnell found all of the actions unlawful.

“More than six months ago, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (‘USCIS’) enacted a series of policies that threw the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo,” Mr McConnell wrote in a 135-page ruling.

He added that the “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.”

Mr McConnell further admonished immigrants who come into the U.S. via legal means.

“In ruling on these motions, the Court is reminded of a line often repeated in discussions around immigration policy: If people wish to immigrate to the United States, they ought to ‘follow the law’ and ‘do things the right way.’ This case serves as a perfect example of immigrants doing just that,” he wrote.

“But the rule of law has to apply to everyone equally and, as evident here, USCIS has neither ‘followed the law’ nor ‘done things the right way.’ Indeed, the agency has violated the very immigration laws that Congress has charged it with administering,” Mr McConnell ruled.