A United States federal court has delivered a significant blow to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, blocking a sweeping visa ban that affected citizens from Nigeria and 74 other countries. US District Judge Jeannette Vargas issued the ruling on Friday in the Southern District of New York, declaring the policy unlawful and beyond the authority granted to Secretary of State Marco Rubio under federal immigration law.
The controversial policy, implemented by the State Department in January, had completely halted immigrant visa processing for applicants from 75 countries across multiple continents. The Trump administration had defended the measure by claiming that applicants from these nations posed a risk of becoming dependent on public assistance programs upon entering the United States.
Nigeria was prominently featured among the African countries targeted by the ban, alongside Ghana, Cameroon, Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Togo and Tunisia. The expansive list also encompassed numerous countries across Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America.
The court’s decision represents a major victory for thousands of visa applicants whose immigration plans had been indefinitely suspended, though questions remain about how quickly normal processing will resume and whether the administration will appeal the ruling.
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