Judge strikes down Trump administration’s immigrant visa suspension affecting 75 countries

WASHINGTON, DC: A federal judge in Manhattan has declared null and void a policy of the Trump administration that suspended the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, stating that it went beyond the legal powers of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The ruling, which was delivered on Friday by US District Judge Jeannette Vargas, represents a major legal blow to the administration's immigration restrictions.

The judge referred to the policy as "patently unlawful," pointing out that it contradicts federal immigration law, which explicitly takes away the Secretary of State's authority to instruct consular officers regarding individual visa decisions.

Who was affected and why was the ban imposed?

"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," Judge Jeannette Vargas wrote.

The State ​Department's suspension that also took effect in January impacted applicants from Latin American countries including Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay; Balkan nations such as Bosnia and Albania; South Asian ​countries Pakistan and Bangladesh; and those from many nations in Africa, the ​Middle East, and the Caribbean.

The State Department said applicants from those countries 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 did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.

Legal challenge and broader immigration crackdown

Yet critics contended that the reason given was merely a cover for more extensive immigration restrictions and referred to the fact that immigrant visa holders have to meet strict financial sponsorship requirements, which already reduce the likelihood of posing a public charge.

The department did not respond immediately to the ruling on Friday, and it was uncertain whether the administration would appeal.

Vargas, an appointee of Democratic ​former President Joe ​Biden, issued the ⁠ruling in a lawsuit filed by immigrant rights groups Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, along with ​applicants for immigrant visas and US citizens who are ​sponsoring family ⁠members from the designated countries for immigrant visas.

President Donald Trump has pursued an aggressive immigration crackdown during his presidency that he argues is aimed at improving domestic security.

Rights groups ⁠say ​Trump’s immigration crackdown has violated free speech and due ​process rights and has created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised ​concerns about racial profiling.

The Center for Constitutional Rights stated that the freeze was one of several restrictions that the administration put in place quickly after the wider travel ban affecting 39 countries came into effect on 1 January and following the suspension of diversity visa allocations in late December.