A U.S. judge has invalidated a Trump administration policy that suspended the processing of immigrant visas for applicants from 75 countries, ruling that the policy exceeded the Secretary of State's statutory authority.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan declared the State Department's policy, implemented in January, "patently unlawful." She stated that it violated federal immigration law, which specifically reserves the authority over consular officers' processing of immigrant visas to the Secretary of State.
The judge wrote, "The Policy, which categorically prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas based upon the nationality of the applicant, represents a direct abrogation of this statutory scheme." The suspended policy impacted visa applicants from numerous countries across Latin America, the Balkans, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.
The State Department had justified the suspension by asserting that applicants from these nations were at a "high risk for becoming a public charge and recourse to local, state and federal government resources in the United States." The department has not yet issued a comment regarding the ruling.
Judge Vargas, appointed by former President Joe Biden, issued her decision in response to a lawsuit brought by immigrant rights organizations, including Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, as well as individuals seeking immigrant visas and U.S. citizens sponsoring family members.
