WASHINGTON (Kashmir English): A U.S. federal judge has invalidated a Trump administration rule that barred issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, including Pakistan.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan states that the State Department policy is illegal and violative of federal immigration law.
The policy had placed a blanket ban on the processing of immigrant visas from a given country.
The court ruled that the measure was a flagrant contravention of the law regulating processing of immigrant visas.
The policy was “patently unlawful,” writes the Judge, because Congress had set limitations on the Secretary of State’s authority in connection with immigrant visa applications by consular officers.
The suspension, which was to be effective from January, applied to those who had applied from 75 countries from various regions around the world.
Judge Vargas, who was appointed by former Democratic President Joe Biden, ruled in favour of the challengers.
The list included Pakistan and other South Asian countries as well as Latin American, African, Middle Eastern, Caribbean and Balkan countries in addition to Bangladesh. Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bosnia and Albania, and others were among the countries hit.
The State Department had said that the applicants from the countries on the list were “high risk” of being a “public charge,” or having to use government resources in the United States. A statement from the department was not immediately available about the court decision.
The decision was in response to a lawsuit brought by immigrant rights groups such as the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, as well as immigrant visa applicants and U.S. citizens sponsoring immigrants from the affected nations.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has been pursuing a comprehensive immigration overhaul, saying stricter immigration policies need to be tougher to ensure the US is more secure and its interests are better served.
