Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Suspension of Immigrant Visas for 75 Nations
This is a follow up to our January 14th article - U.S. Suspending Immigrant Visa Processing for 75 Nations.
On Friday, August 21, 2026, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York struck down the Trump administration’s indefinite suspension of immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75-countries, which included Afghanistan, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Haiti, Iran, Nigeria, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, and Yemen.
Judge Jeannette Vargas held that the policy was unlawful because its blanket nationality-based restriction violates the INA which prohibits discrimination based on nationality in the issuance of immigrant visas.
The Trump administration justified the suspension of immigrant visa processing based on the premise that applicants from the 75 affected countries posed a heightened public-charge risk. However, regulation provides a visa can be refused only upon a ground specifically set out in the law or implementing regulations and refusals must be anchored in legal ineligibility, not in a policy preference that has no basis in the statute or regulations.
Although the district court invalidated the policy and ordered that any immigrant visa refusal based solely on the policy be set aside and remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion, immigrant visa refusals supported by other valid grounds, including public charge grounds, are not affected.