The Trump administration’s decision to suspend immigrant visa processing for citizens of 75 countries, including Bangladesh, has been overturned by a U.S. federal court.
On Friday, August 21, Judge Jeannette Vargas of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan ruled that the Trump administration’s visa suspension policy was unlawful. She found that the policy conflicted with federal immigration law, which limits the Secretary of State’s authority to interfere with the visa decisions of consular officers.
Judge Vargas further said that suspending immigrant visas based directly on nationality violated the statutory framework governing the U.S. immigration system.
The case was brought by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, along with visa applicants and their U.S. citizen family members. The organizations argued that the policy unlawfully restricted the rights of immigrants and their families.
The suspension, which took effect in January this year, affected prospective immigrants from countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Albania and Bosnia, as well as numerous countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean. The State Department had justified the policy by arguing that immigrants from these countries were considered at greater risk of becoming dependent on U.S. government assistance.
Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has pursued a series of restrictive immigration measures, citing national security and immigration enforcement. The latest policy followed a travel ban affecting citizens of 39 countries that took effect on January 1, as well as earlier visa-related restrictions.
Civil rights organizations welcomed the ruling, arguing that the policy had also infringed on constitutional and legal rights. The State Department had not yet issued a response to the court’s decision at the time of the report.
