Judge strikes down Trump visa ban on 75 countries

WASHINGTON (MNTV) — A federal judge has struck down a Trump administration policy that denied immigrant visas to citizens of 75 countries, ruling the government cannot replace individual assessments with a blanket ban based on nationality.

Judge Jeannette Vargas of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his authority when he ordered consular officers to refuse immigrant visas to applicants from the affected countries — which span Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. 

The administration had justified the January policy through the “public charge” rule, which allows denial of applicants deemed likely to rely on government assistance, arguing those from the listed countries posed a higher risk.

But U.S. immigration law requires officers to weigh each applicant’s own circumstances — employment prospects, financial resources, and support from relatives or friends in the U.S. — before deciding, the judge ruled. 

The policy instead made nationality decisive, so that otherwise-eligible applicants faced automatic refusal regardless of their finances or family support. 

The case was brought by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together on behalf of affected families.

Vargas vacated visa denials based solely on the order and directed the State Department to resume individualized assessments. 

The ruling adds to a series of court decisions limiting the administration’s immigration measures, reinforcing that federal law does not permit replacing case-by-case review with a categorical ban — a safeguard, advocates said, for families seeking to reunite in the U.S.