WASHINGTON, 22 August, 2026 (Ghufran): A US federal judge has struck down a Trump administration policy that suspended the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, including Pakistan, ruling that the policy exceeded the statutory authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. US District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan described the policy announced by the State Department in January as unlawful and said it conflicted with federal immigration law governing the processing of immigrant visas by consular officers. The suspension affected applicants from several regions, including Pakistan and Bangladesh in South Asia, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay in Latin America, Bosnia and Albania in the Balkans, as well as countries across Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
The State Department had justified the suspension by arguing that applicants from the affected countries faced a high risk of becoming a public charge and relying on government resources in the United States.Judge Vargas ruled that categorically restricting immigrant visas based on an applicant’s nationality was inconsistent with the statutory framework governing consular visa processing.The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by immigrant rights groups, including the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, along with affected visa applicants and US citizens sponsoring family members from the designated countries.The State Department had not immediately commented on the ruling.The decision represents a legal setback for the Trump administration’s broader immigration crackdown, which the administration has defended as necessary to strengthen domestic security. Rights groups have criticized several immigration measures, arguing that they undermine due process and have raised concerns about racial profiling and the treatment of ethnic minorities.