A federal judge in New York has vacated a Trump administration policy that suspended visa processing for citizens of 75 countries, dealing a significant blow to the administration’s immigration agenda.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, set aside the policy on Friday, ruling it was “contrary to law and in excess of statutory authority.”
The ban had targeted nations whose citizens the Trump administration deemed likely to require public assistance in the United States, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, and Somalia.
Judge Vargas found that Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his authority by issuing the policy, which “runs afoul” of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The ruling determined that the policy mandated “the refusal of visas to eligible applicants without any basis in law,” undermining the legal framework governing consular decisions.
Vargas also found the policy conflicted with the congressional requirement that places consular officers at the forefront of any individual visa decision.
The State Department had announced in January that it would indefinitely pause immigrant visa processing for certain nations “whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates,” covering nearly 40% of all countries worldwide.
Under existing immigration law, an immigrant can only be rejected as a likely “public charge” after a consular officer individually weighs that person’s finances, age, health, skills, and family situation.
Judge Vargas found that in practice, U.S. officers were ordered to reject visa applicants solely based on their country of origin, even those who could demonstrably support themselves financially.
In her ruling from the Southern District of New York, Vargas wrote that the policy was “patently unlawful” and that federal immigration law explicitly stripped the secretary of state of authority over consular officers’ adjudication of immigrant visas.
Vargas was direct in her assessment, writing in the ruling: “In many ways, this is not a challenging case.”
The ban had halted permanent-residence visas for people seeking to join family members or take employment in the United States, though it did not apply to nonimmigrant visas such as tourist or student visas.
According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, the freeze was one of several rapid immigration restrictions imposed by the administration, following a broader travel ban covering 39 countries that took effect on January 1, and a pause on diversity visa issuance in late December.
The ruling adds to a growing pattern of courts blocking the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including a June decision striking down measures that made it harder for immigrants from dozens of countries to obtain asylum, work permits, green cards, and citizenship.
