‘Patently unlawful’: US judge strikes down Trump admin’s immigrant visa freeze for 75 countries

US President Donald Trump. A US federal judge has struck down the Trump administration’s policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, calling the nationality-based restrictions “patently unlawful.”US District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan ruled on Friday that the policy exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s legal authority and conflicted with federal immigration law governing the processing of immigrant visas, according to Reuters.Judge says policy violated immigration lawThe State Department announced the suspension in January, blocking the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries across Latin America, the Balkans, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.Vargas said the policy improperly gave the secretary of state authority over consular officers’ processing of immigrant visas, an area where federal law explicitly limits that authority.“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,” Vargas wrote.Why did the Trump administration suspend the visas?The Trump administration ha...