A federal court in the U.S. has overturned the Trump administration’s regulation suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to citizens of 75 countries.
Judge Jeannette Vargas of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan ruled that the policy, announced and implemented by the State Department in January, was clearly unlawful. Vargas noted that the policy violated federal immigration law and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had exceeded his authority to interfere with consular officials’ visa processing. In her ruling, Judge Vargas stated that a policy categorically barring the issuance of immigrant visas based on an applicant’s nationality constitutes a direct violation of the legal framework.
In January, the State Department suspended immigrant visa applications for citizens of approximately 40 countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Russia. The administration defended this move on the grounds that it was necessary to prevent individuals likely to rely on public assistance from entering the country.
