Key Takeaways:
Judge Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York struck down the Trump administration policy suspending immigrant visas for applicants from 75 countries, calling it patently unlawful.
The court found Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his statutory authority, because federal immigration law leaves immigrant visa decisions to consular officers rather than a blanket nationality bar.
The State Department has not commented and can appeal, leaving families and sponsors from Brazil, Pakistan, and dozens of African and Caribbean nations waiting on the next move.
A federal judge struck down the Trump administration's suspension of immigrant visas for applicants from 75 countries on Friday, ruling that the State Department overstepped the law when it froze the applications. Judge Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York wrote that the policy was patently unlawful.
The suspension took effect in January and covered roughly 40 percent of the world's countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bosnia, Albania, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and many nations across Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. The State Department had argued that applicants from those countries were at high risk of becoming a public charge, a legal term for someone likely to depend on government aid.
Vargas, appointed by former President Joe Biden, ruled in a lawsuit brought by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, along with visa applicants and US citizens sponsoring family members. She found that federal immigration law strips the secretary of state of authority over how consular officers decide immigrant visa cases, and that a blanket bar based on nationality ran against that scheme.
The freeze was one piece of a broader crackdown. A separate travel ban covering 39 countries took effect on January 1, and the administration paused diversity visa issuance in late December. A court had already struck down the bar on asylum visa processing for those 39 countries earlier this year.
The ruling lands the way other courts have met the administration this summer, from the decision that blocked the White House from scrapping the $1 billion Greenbelt FBI headquarters to the order that halted its nationwide mail-in voting rules. The pattern here is hard to ignore, one federal judge after another finding that an executive action reached past the authority Congress wrote into law. The State Department has not commented and can appeal, so the 75-country freeze is paused, not finished.
People Also Ask
Why did a judge strike down Trump's 75-country visa ban?
Judge Jeannette Vargas found the State Department policy exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio's authority, because federal immigration law leaves immigrant visa decisions to consular officers and does not allow a blanket ban based on nationality.
Which countries were affected by the immigrant visa suspension?
The freeze covered applicants from 75 countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bosnia, Albania, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and many nations across Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.
Can the Trump administration appeal the visa ban ruling?
Yes. The State Department had not commented on the decision as of Friday and can appeal, which means the suspension is paused rather than permanently ended.
What reason did the government give for the visa suspension?
The State Department said applicants from the listed countries were at high risk of becoming a public charge and relying on local, state, and federal resources.
Sources: Al Jazeera and Reuters, CNN, The Hill.