NEW YORK, United States (CMC) – Caribbean immigration advocates have welcomed a ruling by a United States federal district court judge that struck down President Donald Trump’s “unlawful” immigration restrictions.

The policies enacted by Trump include measures that halted asylum applications, and paused the decisions of immigration applications, work permits, green cards and citizenship applications for nationals from 39 countries, primarily from Africa and the Caribbean subject to the administration’s travel ban.

In his ruling, Judge John McConnell, Jr found that the Trump administration’s actions effectively made it impossible for Caribbean and other immigrants eligible for asylum to remain in the United States and violated “the immigration laws governing the responsibilities of US Citizenship and Immigration Services.”