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A United States District Court in Manhattan has nullified the Donald Trump administration’s policy suspending the processing and issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, including Nigeria.
In a ruling delivered on Friday, U.S District Judge, Jeannette Vargas, described the January directive by the State Department as patently unlawful and said it exceeded the statutory authority of Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
The policy, which took effect on January 21, had barred immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries on the grounds that they posed “a high risk for becoming a public charge” and relying on U.S government cash assistance.
Affected countries are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Yemen.
President Donald Trump had early in the year, published a list of welfare dependent rates among immigrants, noting that about 33.3 per cent of Nigeria immigrants households received some form of public assistance.
According to the directive, older or overweight applicants can be denied, along with those who had any past use of government cash assistance or institutionalisation.
But delivering the judgement, Judge Vargas, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, held that the suspension ran afoul of federal immigration law, which expressly removed authority over consular processing of immigrant visas from the Secretary of State.
“The policy, which categorically prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas based upon the nationality of the applicant, represents a direct abrogation of this statutory scheme,” she wrote.
The suit was filed by immigrant rights groups, Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, alongside U.S citizens sponsoring family members and visa applicants from the affected countries.
The State Department had, in a cable sent to U.S missions in January directed consular officers to refuse applicants whose visas were “print-authorized” but not yet printed.
It said the suspension was part of a full review to ensure the highest level of screening and vetting and to prevent foreign nationals from exploiting U.S welfare systems.
“Applicants from these countries are at a high risk for becoming a public charge and recourse to local, state and federal government resources in the United States,” the cable stated.
Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, had defended the move, saying: “The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generousity of the American people.
“Immigration from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”
President Trump has, since returning to office in January, pursued an aggressive immigration crackdown aimed at improving domestic security.
