A US federal judge in Manhattan has struck down a Trump administration policy that suspended immigrant visa processing for citizens of 75 countries, ruling that the measure went beyond the authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and conflicted with federal immigration law.
US District Judge Jeannette Vargas called the policy “patently unlawful”, saying the administration had imposed a blanket suspension based on applicants' nationality instead of assessing visa applications individually, Reuters reported.
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The State Department introduced the policy in January 2026 as part of President Donald Trump's broader immigration measures. It targeted applicants from countries including Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bosnia, Albania, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as nations across Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
She stated, as per Reuters, “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 administration had justified the measure under concerns surrounding the so-called “public charge” rule, which allows immigration authorities to consider whether applicants are likely to become dependent on certain public benefits. However, the court found that federal immigration law requires such assessments to be conducted on an individual, case-by-case basis.
Judge Vargas ruled that the policy improperly directed US consular officers to suspend or refuse immigrant visa issuance for applicants solely because they were nationals of one of the 75 countries. The ruling means consular officers can continue to deny visas when an individual applicant fails to meet legal requirements, but they cannot impose blanket refusals based solely on nationality under the invalidated policy.
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The court also concluded that federal law had limited the Secretary of State's authority to control how consular officers process immigrant visa applications in the manner adopted by the administration.
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