Administration must restore legal status for thousands of immigrants, judge rules

abcnews.com • March 31, 2026 • nation

Key Points:

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration must restore the legal status of potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants who entered the U.S. through a Biden-era pathway using the CBP One app.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs found that the Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully by sending notices last year telling over 900,000 immigrants to leave the United States.
The CBP One app was initially used during the Biden administration for immigrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry to apply for humanitarian parole and work authorization.
President Trump terminated this function of the app early in his term, canceled appointments, and DHS repurposed the app to facilitate migrant self-deportation.
The Trump administration is expected to appeal the judge's decision.