A U.S. federal judge on Friday struck down a Trump administration policy that suspended immigrant visa issuance for applicants from 75 countries, ruling that Secretary of State Marco Rubio acted beyond his legal authority.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, found the State Department’s policy was “patently unlawful” and conflicted with federal immigration statutes. The judge determined Congress had explicitly removed the secretary of state’s authority over consular officers’ processing of immigrant visa applications, and that the policy violated that framework by categorically blocking visas based on applicants’ nationality.
The policy, announced by the State Department in January and implemented later that month, covered applicants from 75 countries across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, the Balkans and the Caribbean. Countries specifically named in the ruling included Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bosnia, Albania, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The State Department had argued that applicants from the designated countries faced a high risk of becoming dependent on local, state or federal government resources after entering the United States. The policy was part of President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda to tighten immigration enforcement and protect domestic security and public resources.
The lawsuit was brought by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, alongside immigrant visa applicants and U.S. citizens sponsoring family members from affected countries. Immigrant rights organizations have challenged multiple administration policies, asserting they infringe on free-speech and due-process protections and heighten the risk of racial profiling for ethnic minorities.
The ruling removes the categorical suspension, though applicants remain subject to standard individual screening and eligibility requirements governing U.S. immigrant visas.
