A federal court in the US has overturned President Donald Trump’s January decision to suspend the issuance of immigrant visas to citizens of 75 countries, calling the measure illegal.
The ruling was issued Friday by federal judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan. She said the Trump administration’s policy exceeded the legal authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and violated federal immigration law.
The policy was announced by the State Department in January and affected immigrant visa applicants from dozens of countries around the world. The list included Latin American countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay, Balkan countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, as well as Pakistan, Bangladesh and many countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean, Reuters reports .
The judge argued that the ban on issuing visas solely based on the applicant’s nationality was contrary to the American legal scheme. She considered the policy to be clearly unlawful.
The lawsuit was filed by immigrant rights organizations and visa applicants, who opposed the suspension of procedures.