A U.S. federal judge has blocked a Trump administration policy that halted the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, including Somalia, calling the measure “patently unlawful.”
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York ruled Friday that the policy conflicted with federal immigration law governing the processing of immigrant visas.
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Vargas said the secretary of state lacked the authority to impose a blanket suspension based solely on applicants’ nationalities, emphasizing that federal law assigns responsibility for adjudicating immigrant visas to consular officers.
The State Department introduced the policy in January, affecting applicants from Somalia, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Pakistan and Bangladesh, along with applicants from other countries across Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
The department defended the suspension by arguing that applicants from the designated countries faced a high risk of becoming a public charge and depending on state and federal government resources in the United States.
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by immigrant rights organizations, affected immigrant visa applicants and U.S. citizens sponsoring relatives from the listed countries.
The State Department had not immediately issued a comment on the decision.
The ruling could affect Somali nationals whose immigrant visa applications were covered by the suspension, though the immediate practical consequences for individual cases remained unclear.
Recently, Somali FIFA referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the United States, preventing him from officiating World Cup matches in the USA.
The decision arrives as the Trump administration pursues a broader immigration crackdown that it says is aimed at strengthening U.S. national security. Immigrant rights groups have challenged several of the administration’s policies, contending that they violate legal protections and disproportionately target minorities.
