US court strikes down Trump-era visa ban for 75 countries

A U.S. federal court has struck down a sweeping immigrant visa ban that targeted 75 countries, a policy enacted earlier this year by the Donald Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas declared the prohibition "manifestly illegal" in a 61-page ruling, questioning the administration's justification that applicants from these nations posed a high risk of becoming an economic burden.

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manifestly illegal

The judge found that U.S. officials were instructed to deny visas even to immigrants who met the requirements and were likely to be self-sufficient. This action contradicted a rule mandating individualized assessments for each case. The affected countries included several in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Uruguay, alongside nations like Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, Russia, and Yemen.

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This decision represents a significant victory for the hundreds of thousands of families across the country and the world whose lives were thrown into chaos by the illegal and discriminatory visa ban imposed by this Administration.

The lawsuit involved five professionals from Colombia whose visa applications were denied under the policy, as well as six U.S. citizens whose family members in Ghana, Jamaica, Guatemala, and Ethiopia were impacted. "This decision represents a significant victory for the hundreds of thousands of families across the country and the world whose lives were thrown into chaos by the illegal and discriminatory visa ban imposed by this Administration," stated Joanna Cuevas Ingram, lead attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. She added that the court "made it clear that immigration laws cannot be used to justify discrimination."

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the court "made it clear that immigration laws cannot be used to justify discrimination."

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, echoed this sentiment, calling the ruling a "resounding rejection of an unlawful and discriminatory policy that caused immense harm to families and communities across the country." She asserted that the "Trump-Vance Administration cannot weaponize immigration law to ban entire countries, separate families, and deny constitutionally guaranteed rights without being held accountable."

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resounding rejection of an unlawful and discriminatory policy that caused immense harm to families and communities across the country.