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Federal judge vacates State Dept. freeze on immigrant visas from 75 countries
Confirmed
What we know
A federal judge in Manhattan vacated a January State Department policy that suspended immigrant-visa issuance for nationals of 75 countries, ruling the nationality-based freeze exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s authority and violated immigration law.
Coverage of the Friday decision continued into Saturday as a major U.S. politics story. The listed countries account for roughly 40% of the world’s nations in court and advocacy descriptions of the policy’s reach.
What's confirmed
- Reuters reported U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas (S.D.N.Y.) struck down the Trump administration policy on Friday, calling it “patently unlawful.”
- Bloomberg Law and the CLINIC v. Rubio opinion say the policy categorically barred immigrant visas by nationality and must be vacated under the Administrative Procedure Act.
- CNN and related wires reported the court also set aside refusals based solely on the freeze and distinguished the case from the Supreme Court’s first-term travel-ban ruling, which turned on presidential entry authority rather than consular visa issuance.
- The January policy targeted countries the State Department labeled high risk of public-charge reliance; it applied to immigrant visas (family/employment permanent residence), not tourist or student visas.
What's still developing
- Whether the administration will appeal, and how quickly consulates resume case-by-case processing for refused applicants, was not settled in Saturday evening coverage.
- State Department comment was reported as not immediately available in several Friday wire accounts.
Sources
- Reuters — Judge strikes down 75-country immigrant visa suspension link
- Bloomberg Law — Policy deemed unlawful; APA vacatur link
- CNN — Scope, INA anti-discrimination holding, travel-ban distinction link
- Court / NILC filing — CLINIC v. Rubio opinion excerpt (nationality-based ban ~40% of world) link
- South China Morning Post (Reuters) — Saturday circulation of the ruling link