Judge Jeannette Vargas of Manhattan said in her ruling on Friday in the Southern District of New York that the policy was “patently unlawful” and conflicted with federal immigration law, which explicitly stripped the secretary of state of authority over consular officers’ adjudication of immigrant visas, Reuters reported.
“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.
Vargas, an appointee of Democratic former president Joe Biden, issued the ruling in a lawsuit filed by immigrant rights groups Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, along with applicants for immigrant visas and US citizens sponsoring family members from the designated countries.
The suspension, which took effect in January of this year, affected applicants from Latin American countries including Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay; Balkan nations such as Bosnia and Albania; South Asian countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh; and many nations in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
The Department of State said applicants from those countries were “at a high risk for becoming a public charge and recourse to local, state and federal government resources in the United States”.
Trump has pursued an aggressive immigration crackdown during his presidency that he argues is aimed at improving domestic security. According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, the freeze was one of several restrictions the administration has imposed in rapid succession, following a broader travel ban covering 39 countries that took effect January 1, and a pause on diversity visa issuance in late December.
Rights groups have suggested that the crackdown violates free speech and due process rights, particularly for minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling.
The State Department has not yet commented on the ruling.