Federal immigration officers walk through a security checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston in March.
David J. Phillip/AP
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David J. Phillip/AP
A federal judge has invalidated a Trump administration policy that restricted immigrant visas for individuals from 75 countries, citing nationality-based discrimination in violation of federal immigration laws.
Earlier this year, the State Department announced it was suspending immigrant visas for citizens from countries including Afghanistan, Brazil, and Yemen. This decision, made during the Trump administration, was based on the assumption that individuals from these countries would likely require public assistance upon entering the United States.
The policy would have prevented the U.S. government from issuing immigrant visas even when consular officers individually evaluated and confirmed applicants’ potential self-sufficiency in the U.S., as detailed in a ruling by District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas of the Southern District of New York.
“In many ways, this is not a challenging case,” Vargas wrote. She stated the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 prohibits nationality-based discrimination in issuing immigrant visas. However, the Trump administration’s policy exclusively banned individuals based on their nationality.
Vargas referenced a U.S. diplomatic cable instructing consulates to deny visas to applicants who had previously been approved but whose printed visas had not yet left the consulate.
Vargas declared the policy “contrary to law” and beyond the authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Her ruling nullified the visa ban and overturned denials based solely on the policy.
A State Department spokesperson told NPR that the Trump administration is committed to “protecting the American people by upholding the highest standards of screening and vetting of visa applicants,” and declined to comment on ongoing litigation. Upon issuing the ban, the State Department said the policy would remain until the U.S. could “ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people.”
The ban was part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to curb both legal and illegal immigration. In June, the Supreme Court upheld the right to birthright citizenship, rejecting an executive order aimed at denying citizenship to babies born in the U.S. to parents who entered illegally or are legally residing with temporary visas. The order was never enacted due to lower court rulings of unconstitutionality.
Susan Welber, a supervising attorney at The Legal Aid Society, which represented plaintiffs in the lawsuit, argued that the 75-country visa ban was based on the false premise that residents of these nations would rely on public resources in the U.S.
“Any time we fight against policies rooted in fiction, untruths, and prejudices, we are working towards a fairer immigration system,” Welber stated.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit included the Catholic Immigration Legal Network and African Communities Together, which provide immigration legal services, along with six U.S. citizens who filed family-based immigration petitions and five intending immigrants with employment-based petitions.
“The suspension of lawful visa processing across 75 countries separated families who were adhering to the legal immigration process,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, in a statement.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs stated that the ruling will enable their clients to continue through the immigration process.
“For families from 75 countries, this decision allows for a return to fair, case-by-case review and the opportunity to reunite with loved ones,” said Antionette Dozier, senior attorney for the Western Center on Law & Poverty, representing the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. “No administration can override the law based on an applicant’s nationality.”
