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US court strikes down Trump visa ban affecting South Asian nations

South China Morning Post · back to the audit

US court strikes down Trump visa ban affecting South Asian nations. Federal judge calls 75-country suspension 'patently unlawful', ruling officials cannot block visas based on nationality. Published: 1:51pm, 22 Aug, 2026 (HKT). Reuters.

A US judge has struck down a Trump administration policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, saying that the policy exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statutory authority.

US District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan said the policy that the State Department announced in January was "patently unlawful" and ran afoul of federal immigration law, which explicitly stripped the secretary of state of authority over consular officers' processing of immigrant visas.

"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.

The suspension impacted 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 those from many nations in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.