According to a combined report by the Associated Press and The Washington Post on the 23rd, Judge Vargas of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on the 21st local time that the government’s policy suspending immigrant visa applications from citizens of 75 countries—including Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, and Somalia—is unlawful and must be vacated.
Judge Vargas, a nominee of former President Biden, determined that Secretary of State Rubio’s policy not only exceeded his authority but also violated the Immigration and Nationality Act. That law grants consular officers exclusive authority and discretion in visa adjudication, and expressly prohibits them from denying visas based on an applicant’s nationality. The policy, however, applied a sweeping “one-size-fits-all” approach, rejecting otherwise qualified applicants and circumventing statutory procedures—a clear violation of the law. The ruling also noted that the policy affects nearly 40% of the world’s countries, suspending immigrant visa processing regardless of an applicant’s individual financial circumstances, which may breach anti-discrimination protections embedded in U.S. immigration law.
The administration announced in January of this year that it would suspend immigrant visa applications from 75 countries across Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and other regions, citing concerns that applicants might become a “public charge” and strain the U.S. social safety net. At the time, the State Department cited data from the Council of Economic Advisers indicating that over 30% of immigrant families from these countries receive some form of public assistance. The State Department had already issued a broader directive in November 2025 tightening scrutiny of immigrants deemed likely to become a public charge.
U.S. media report that this ruling is yet another judicial setback for the administration in the realm of immigration policy. In June, a federal judge similarly ruled that the government’s suspension of immigrant applications from 39 countries was unlawful.