A federal judge has delivered a decisive blow to the Trump administration’s sweeping immigrant visa freeze, labeling the policy “Orwellian” and striking it down for exceeding the Secretary of State’s legal authority. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas vacated the State Department’s directive, which had suspended immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries deemed at high risk of public benefit dependency, ruling that the policy imposed a nationality-based ban and predetermined visa denials regardless of individual applicant eligibility. The judge emphasized that the directive usurped the role of consular officers, who are statutorily charged with determining individual visa qualifications, and found that the government’s justification for the refusals under existing provisions was legally unsound. This ruling mandates the government to revisit all visa cases denied solely based on this policy, effectively restoring the possibility of entry for countless individuals who were otherwise found eligible but caught in a nationality-based net.
Adapted from: Latest Political News on Fox News
