Judge vacates Trump freeze on immigrant visas from 75 countries

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.

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The State Department has not yet commented on the ruling.

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Vargas, who was nominated by former President Joe Biden, noted in her ruling that this ban affected nearly 40 percent of the world’s countries, including Egypt, Afghanistan, Somalia, Haiti, Iran, Brazil and Russia.

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The visa ban halted permanent-residence visas for people joining family members or taking jobs in the U.S. but did not apply to nonimmigrant visas such as tourist or student visas.

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Vargas, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, gave both sides until Sept. 11 to propose how to resolve what remains of the case.

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The administration can appeal the ruling.

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In a 61-page ruling, Judge Jeannette A. Vargas of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York disputed the administration’s public rationale for the policy, billed as a “pause,” that immigrants from the targeted countries were likely to draw public benefits and become “a financial burden to Americans.”

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