{"id":198496,"date":"2026-08-23T02:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T02:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/198496\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T02:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T02:22:14","slug":"federal-judge-strikes-down-rubios-immigrant-visa-freeze-on-75-nations-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/198496\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal judge strikes down Rubio&#8217;s immigrant visa freeze on 75 nations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/video\/6399407071112\" data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_featured-video_5_1\" data-v-7b1896ea=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">El Tribunal Supremo respalda el programa de reforma migratoria de Trump<\/a> <\/p>\n<p data-v-7b1896ea=\"\">The Supreme Court delivers two significant immigration victories for President Donald Trump, allowing the administration to terminate temporary protected status for over a million migrants and restrict asylum claims at the US-Mexico border. Justice Samuel Alito&#8217;s majority opinion states &#8220;The text is clear,&#8221; while Justice Sonia Sotomayor&#8217;s dissent warns of increased violence.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a1NUEVO! \u00a1Ahora puedes escuchar Fox News de Fox News !\n  <\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">A federal judge struck down the Trump administration\u2019s freeze on immigrant visas from 75 countries Friday, ruling <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_20916595\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/foreign-policy\/secretary-of-state\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Secretary of State Marco Rubio<\/a> lacked the legal authority to order denials for applicants otherwise found eligible to enter the United States.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, a Biden appointee in Manhattan, vacated the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_20916596\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/foreign-policy\/state-department\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">State Department<\/a> policy and any visa refusals based solely on it, directing the government to revisit those cases.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;The Court holds that the Policy is contrary to law and was issued in excess of Secretary Rubio\u2019s statutory authority, Vargas wrote in her 61-page opinion.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The State Department enacted the policy in January, suspending immigrant-visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries the department deemed at high risk of becoming dependent on public benefits. The list spans Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_20916597\" href=\"https:\/\/noticias.foxnews.com\/politics\/boasberg-delivers-fresh-immigration-setback-trump-free-speech-clash\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">BOASBERG DELIVERS FRESH IMMIGRATION SETBACK TO TRUMP IN FREE-SPEECH CLASH<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787451733_263_rubio-trump-cabinet-meeting-fixed.png\" alt=\"marco rubio speaks at cabinet meeting fixed\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>FILE &#8211; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio&#8217;s policy told consular officers to review each applicant individually. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Rubio\u2019s policy told consular officers to review each applicant individually. But even applicants who passed that review, showed &#8220;additional evidence that demonstrates he or she overcomes the public charge refusal&#8221; and had no other reason to be denied were still refused visas if they came from one of the 75 designated countries.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;While the Policy permits consular officers to exercise their normal functions up to a point, whatever determinations they make as to eligibility for the applicants subject to the Policy are ultimately irrelevant,&#8221; Vargas wrote. &#8220;The outcome is predetermined. The visa will be refused.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The judge said the directive effectively imposed a <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_20916598\" href=\"https:\/\/noticias.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-admin-announces-expansion-visa-restriction-policy-western-hemisphere\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">nationality-based ban on immigrants<\/a> from nearly 40% of the world\u2019s countries and sidelined the consular officers Congress charged with deciding whether individual applicants qualify for visas.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_20916599\" href=\"https:\/\/noticias.foxnews.com\/politics\/federal-judge-strikes-trumps-100k-h-1b-visa-fee-ruling-unconstitutional-tax\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN TRUMP\u2019S $100K H-1B VISA FEE, RULING IT AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL TAX<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;The Policy thus displaces consular officers from the role Congress assigned them in the visa issuance process,&#8221; Vargas wrote.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;In addition to its other defects, the Policy also exceeds the statutory authority that the INA vests in the Secretary of State,&#8221; Vargas continued. &#8220;Specifically, Secretary Rubio\u2019s Cable directing consular officers that they &#8216;must refuse&#8217; immigrant visas to nationals of certain countries cannot be reconciled with Congress\u2019s express limitation on his authority as Secretary of State.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787451733_16_Trump-Visa.png\" alt=\"Una imagen dividida del presidente \u00ab Donald \u00bb Trump junto a la imagen de un visado\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>La administraci\u00f3n de Trump se ha mostrado muy firme a la hora de revocar visados a ciudadanos extranjeros, llegando a revocar 100 000 visados en 2025 ((Foto de Harry Hamburg\/Archivo del NY Daily News v\u00eda Getty Images) (Foto de Aaron Schwartz \/ AFP v\u00eda Getty Images))<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The Trump administration argued the refusals were lawful because officers formally issued them under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, an existing provision governing visa refusals. Vargas rejected that rationale, saying the government had failed to identify a law allowing an officer to deny a visa to an applicant already found eligible.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;The Government engages in what is best described as an exercise in Orwellian logic,&#8221; Vargas wrote.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">She found the policy violated the INA\u2019s bar on nationality-based discrimination in immigrant-visa issuance, as well as provisions allowing visa refusals only when an applicant is legally ineligible. The administration\u2019s approach, she wrote, drew &#8220;pernicious distinctions based upon nationality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Vargas also rejected the administration\u2019s argument that the policy preserved consular officers\u2019 authority because they still entered the denials themselves.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;The fact that the mandatory visa refusal is ultimately effectuated by the consular officer hardly means that the consular officer\u2019s role in the statutory scheme has not been usurped,&#8221; she wrote.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_20916600\" href=\"https:\/\/noticias.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-admin-sued-visa-time-restrictions-foreign-students-journalists\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">TRUMP ADMIN SUED OVER VISA TIME RESTRICTIONS FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS, JOURNALISTS<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787451734_453_marco-rubio-visas.jpg\" alt=\"Marco con los pasaportes a la vista\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Marco Rubio with passports in view; the State Department has introduced updated vetting procedures for visa applicants. (Photo by Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images \/ istock) (Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images \/ istock)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The judge distinguished the policy from the Supreme Court\u2019s 2018 ruling upholding <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_20916601\" href=\"https:\/\/noticias.foxnews.com\/politics\/trumps-third-world-travel-ban-could-become-permanent-firebrand-republican-lawmaker-gets-her-way\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Trump\u2019s first-term travel ban<\/a>. That case involved presidential authority over who may enter the country, Vargas noted, while this case centered on whether the State Department could refuse immigrant visas to applicants otherwise eligible under the law.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The ruling does not invalidate visa denials based on other independent grounds of ineligibility, but it wipes out refusals based solely on the 75-country freeze and returns those cases to the government for further proceedings consistent with the decision.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The lawsuit was brought by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC); African Communities Together (ACT), a Harlem-based immigrant advocacy group; five prospective employment-based immigrants; and six U.S. citizens seeking to bring family members to the country.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">HAZ CLIC AQU\u00cd PARA DESCARGAR LA APP DE FOX NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Fox News se ha puesto en contacto con el Departamento de Estado para recabar sus comentarios.<\/p>\n<p>Elaine Mallon es redactora de Fox News y Fox Business la pol\u00edtica nacional.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"El Tribunal Supremo respalda el programa de reforma migratoria de Trump The Supreme Court delivers two significant immigration&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[121],"tags":[8531,493,3606,186,5099,5458],"class_list":["post-198496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-marco-rubio","tag-federal-courts","tag-immigration","tag-judiciary","tag-marco-rubio","tag-secretary-of-state","tag-state-department"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117142444662609666","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198496","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=198496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}