A U.S. federal judge has struck down a Trump administration policy that suspended the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, including Nigeria. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan ruled on Friday that the policy was “patently unlawful” and exceeded the statutory authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The State Department had announced the suspension in January, pausing immigrant visa processing for nationals of 75 countries. The 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 ban affected permanent-residence visas for family reunification and work, but did not apply to nonimmigrant visas such as tourist or student visas.
Judge Vargas found the policy ran afoul of federal immigration law, which bars discrimination by nationality in granting visas and strips the Secretary of State of authority over how consular officers process individual cases. She noted that officers were ordered to refuse applicants solely based on country of origin, even when they provided evidence they could support themselves.
The affected countries spanned Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean and South America. Listed countries included Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Somalia, Egypt, Brazil, Colombia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Haiti and others. The State Department had said the pause would remain in place indefinitely while screening and vetting procedures were reviewed.
The ruling was issued in a lawsuit filed by immigrant rights groups Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, along with U.S. citizens sponsoring family members from the designated countries. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
