Leaders of AFGE’s National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council 119 came to the AFGE Leadership Summit with a clear message from their members: enough of the abuse of this administration – it’s time to start winning. Led by Council President Adam Holly, local officers from across the council took those concerns directly to AFGE’s national leadership.
Their advocacy got results. Council 119 leaders left the summit with a commitment to engage USCIS members in our litigation to support bargaining rights, a dedicated USCIS page on AFGE's website to coordinate information/mobilization, and an ongoing public outreach program on how vital their mission is to our nation and our union.
“Our USCIS members process the citizenship applications, green cards, and work permits that keep this country running, and they deserve to know exactly where their fight stands,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “Council 119 came to the summit and spoke up for their members, and we heard them loud and clear. The administration wants us to give up and go away. We will do neither. AFGE will keep pressing this case in court, keep our members informed every step of the way, and keep fighting until every worker covered by this order has their union rights honored.”
Executive Order 14251, which the administration calls the “Exclusion EO,” was issued on March 27, 2025. It purports to strip collective bargaining rights from more than half of the federal workforce, including many employees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which USCIS is a part. AFGE challenged the order almost immediately and in June 2025 won a preliminary injunction from Judge James Donato in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit later stayed and then vacated that injunction.
The Ninth Circuit’s decision did not end the case, and it handed AFGE some important wins. The panel, which included two Trump appointees, rejected the government’s main argument that the case does not belong in federal court at all, which means our lawsuit continues before Judge Donato. The panel based its ruling only on the early record, and one judge made clear the outcome could change once the full record is developed. The injunction also rested on just one of our claims – First Amendment retaliation. Our other claims – that the order exceeds the president’s authority and violates the separation of powers and the Fifth Amendment – are still pending, and AFGE is pursuing every one of them.
AFGE is pushing to move the case forward. On July 10, 2026, our attorneys served the government with our first set of document requests. On Aug. 12, the government objected to every single request, refused to turn over one document, and claimed no discovery is allowed in the case at all. The government also wants to file a motion to dismiss before any discovery happens. AFGE opposes that. On Sept. 1, we filed a letter asking the court to set a schedule for a motion to compel the government to produce documents, and to hold a case management conference to set a timeline for the rest of the case. A status conference on the case is scheduled for Nov 19.
The fight to restore bargaining rights is AFGE’s top priority, but it is not the only fight that matters to USCIS employees. AFGE is also suing to block Schedule Policy/Career and the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) new performance and suitability rules, both of which threaten job protections for workers across the government, including at USCIS. AFGE’s legal team also stands ready to help locals with management retaliation and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) cases. For the status of every AFGE lawsuit, click here.
What you can do: Stay connected with your local and Council 119 for the latest updates, and visit the USCIS action page. If you are not on E-Dues yet, sign up today. Keeping your membership strong keeps this fight going.
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