{"id":198448,"date":"2026-08-23T01:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T01:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/198448\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T01:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T01:11:09","slug":"biden-appointed-judge-blocks-trump-immigration-policy-which-suspended-visa-processing-from-75-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/198448\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden-appointed judge blocks Trump immigration policy which suspended visa processing from 75 countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in New York has vacated a Trump administration policy that suspended the processing of visas from 75 countries<\/a>, including Afghanistan, Iran, Russia and Somalia, whose nationals the Trump administration deemed likely to require public assistance in the United States.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, set aside the policy Friday as \u201ccontrary to law and in excess of statutory authority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his authority by issuing the policy, which \u201cruns afoul\u201d of the Immigration and Nationality Act by mandating \u201cthe refusal of visas to eligible applicants without any basis in law,\u201d the judge ruled.<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives at the Treaty Room at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. (AP) AP Photo\/Tierney L. Cross<\/p>\n

Judge says power lies with consular officers<\/p>\n

Vargas said the policy also undermines the congressional requirement that puts consular officers at the forefront of any visa decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress imbued these officers with exclusive authority and discretion to determine if an immigrant is eligible for a visa based upon review of specific and detailed criteria set forth in the statute,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe Policy, which categorically prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas based upon the nationality of the applicant, represents a direct abrogation of this statutory scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n

The policy was challenged by two nonprofit organizations along with 11 individuals, including six whose family members had been refused visas. The remaining five are outside the country and had filed \u201cemployment-based petitions\u201d to come to the United States.<\/p>\n

Advocates say keeping families apart is cruel<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome this ruling because, at its heart, this case is about keeping families together,\u201d said Anna Gallagher, the executive director of CLINIC, a national nonprofit that provides training, resources, and support to a network of immigration legal service providers and was one of the plaintiffs.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press aboard Air Force One on Sunday, August 2, 2026. Trump is returning to the White House after spending the weekend in New Jersey at his Bedminster residence. (AFP or licensors) AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cCatholic social teaching calls us to uphold the dignity of every person and recognize the family as the foundation of society,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cThis decision affirms both those values and the rule of law, allowing families to once again move forward toward reunification.\u201dAnother plaintiff is African Communities Together, a Harlem-based nonprofit. One of its leaders called the ruling \u201ca tremendous victory for the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis unlawful and racist ban caused immeasurable harm, cruelly keeping families and loved ones apart,\u201d Diana Konate, deputy executive director for policy and advocacy, said in a statement. \u201cToday, we are elated to tell our community members: this ban is no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump expands his anti-immigration agenda<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has imposed a growing list of\u00a0immigration<\/a> and travel bans\u00a0mostly for people from Africa, Asia and Latin America. The State Department said Saturday that the Trump administration is \u201cprotecting the American people by upholding the highest standards of screening and vetting of visa applicants,\u201d and that it would not comment on pending litigation.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio during an American Mining Industry Roundtable at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on Friday, August 7, 2026. (Elizabeth Frantz) REUTERS<\/p>\n

At the time the policy was issued, the State Department said it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the 75 countries in accordance with\u00a0a broader order\u00a0in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become \u201cpublic charges.\u201d Relying on Council of Economic Advisers data, the State Department said that more than 30 percent of households with immigrants from these countries received some form of public assistance.<\/p>\n

A separate notice sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates said that non-immigrant visa applicants also should be \u201cfully vetted and screened\u201d for the possibility that they might seek public benefits in the United States.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The cable, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, noted several times that the applicant must prove they won\u2019t apply for public benefits while in the U.S., and that consular officers who suspect the applicant might apply should require them to fill out a form proving their financial bona fides.<\/p>\n

The ruling is the latest example of the courts upending Trump\u2019s immigration agenda. In June, a federal judge struck down a Trump administration policy that made it harder for immigrants from dozens of countries to enter and stay in America \u2014 affecting elements like asylum, work permits, green cards, and citizenship applications. That judge said the policy threw countless immigrants\u2019 lives \u201cinto indeterminate legal limbo,\u201d and accused the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of ignoring the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal judge in New York has vacated a Trump administration policy that suspended the processing of visas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[121],"tags":[12,493,43105,186,19219,51,48],"class_list":["post-198448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-marco-rubio","tag-donald-trump","tag-immigration","tag-judges","tag-marco-rubio","tag-migrants","tag-politics","tag-us-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117142165692104589","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}