US judge strikes down visa ban on Bangladesh, 74 nations
Photo: REUTERS
A US federal judge invalidated a Trump administration policy that blocked the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from Bangladesh and 74 nations on Friday, ruling that the restriction exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statutory authority.
US District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan branded the State Department’s January directive as “patently unlawful”.
She determined that the policy directly breached federal immigration law, which explicitly strips the secretary of state of any authority over how consular officers process immigrant visas.
In her written decision, Judge Vargas said, “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.”
The controversial suspension, which took effect in January, disrupted visa seekers from various regions worldwide, including Bangladesh and Pakistan in South Asia; Bosnia and Albania in the Balkans; and Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay in Latin America, along with numerous nations across the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Africa.
In defending the ban, the State Department argued that applicants from those designated countries were “at a high risk for becoming a public charge and recourse to local, state and federal government resources in the United States.”
The department failed to offer any immediate comment regarding the ruling.
Democratic former president Joe Biden appointed Vargas to the federal bench. She issued her decision in a lawsuit that advocacy coalitions, including the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, filed alongside individual visa applicants and US citizens who are sponsoring their foreign relatives.
President Donald Trump has relentlessly pursued a strict immigration crackdown, which he asserts will improve American domestic security.
However, civil rights organizations argue that this crackdown directly violates due process and free speech rights. They further warn that these measures create a hostile environment, specifically raising fears of racial profiling among ethnic minorities.
Source: Reuters (adapted)
