The ban on immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, introduced by the administration of United States President Donald Trump, was overturned Saturday by a federal judge as “contrary to the law”. The judge assessed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his legal authority by enacting the ban. Now the Trump administration has the right to appeal.
In January, the State Department suspended the issuance of immigrant visas for countries where almost 40% of the world’s population lives – including Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Haiti, Somalia and Russia – on the grounds that this would prevent the entry of people who would “use welfare and public benefits”.
These countries included Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo from the region.
Judge Janet Vargas of the Federal District Court in Manhattan challenged the State Department’s reasoning for the measure and overturned any denial of visa applications based solely on that reasoning.
