A United States judge has blocked a policy by President Donald Trump’s administration that suspended the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, including Nigeria.
Judge Jeannette Vargas of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on Friday that the policy exceeded the legal authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Vargas described the policy as “patently unlawful”, saying it was inconsistent with federal immigration law, which limits the secretary of state’s authority over consular officers responsible for processing immigrant visa applications.
“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,” Vargas wrote.
The ruling followed a lawsuit filed by immigrant rights organisations Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, along with immigrant visa applicants and US citizens sponsoring relatives from countries affected by the suspension.
Vargas, who was appointed to the federal bench by former Democratic President Joe Biden, presided over the case in Manhattan.
The visa suspension took effect in January and affected nationals from countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Among the affected countries were Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay in Latin America; Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania in the Balkans; and Pakistan and Bangladesh in South Asia.
The US Department of State had defended the policy, arguing that applicants from the affected countries were at a high risk of “becoming a public charge” and relying on local, state and federal government resources in the United States.
The ruling represents the latest legal setback for the Trump administration’s broader immigration agenda, which the president has defended as necessary to strengthen national security and immigration enforcement.
According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, the immigrant visa freeze was one of several immigration restrictions introduced by the administration in quick succession. Other measures included a broader travel ban affecting nationals of 39 countries that began on January 1, as well as a suspension of diversity visa issuance in late December.
Immigrant rights groups have challenged several aspects of the administration’s immigration crackdown, arguing that some measures raise concerns about due process and free speech, particularly among minority communities worried about racial profiling.
The countries covered by the suspended immigrant visa policy were:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
