Trump administration faces lawsuit over immigrant visa suspension

Immigrant rights organizations, legal advocacy groups and several U.S. citizens filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging the Trump administration’s ban on immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries.

The group argues that the policy unlawfully rewrites U.S. immigration law, discriminates on the basis of nationality and race, and “eviscerates decades of established immigration law.”

caseThe lawsuit, seen by Fox News Digital, was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and named Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the US State Department as defendants.

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The lawsuit hopes to block the State Department’s policy, which went into effect Jan. 21, that indefinitely pauses the issuance of nonimmigrant visas, including tourist visas, to applicants from countries on the list.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, the pause comes as departments reevaluate their screening and vetting procedures in an effort to address applicants deemed likely to become publicly available.

The group argues that the new policy amounts to a “categorical nationality-based ban on legal immigration” that replaces the individualized, case-by-case decision making required by federal law.

The State Department justified the pause by claiming that applicants from affected countries were at high risk of “public accusation” or becoming dependent on state aid.

The lawsuit states that the State Department’s policy “is based on an unsupported and patently false claim that citizens of covered countries are improperly immigrating to the United States to rely on cash welfare, which would likely become a ‘public charge.'”

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President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday, September 19, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

According to the complaint, the ban affects approximately 40% to 45% of immigrant visa applicants worldwide and even applies to people whose visas have already been approved or authorized for printing.

The policy has no set end date, review criteria or exemption mechanism.

The lawsuit was filed by Democracy Forward, the Legal Aid Society, the Western Center for Law and Poverty, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Colombo & Hurd, in conjunction with the National Immigration Law Center.

Plaintiffs include nonprofit organizations, U.S. citizens petitioning for family members, and employment-based visa applicants.

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Marco Rubio passports in sight; The Department of State has implemented updated review procedures for visa applicants. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/istock) (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/istock)

The petitioner is a U.S. citizen, a grandmother living in New York who had petitions approved for her four adult children and three grandchildren from Ghana, but the family was turned away from consular meetings because of the ban.

Another plaintiff is a U.S. citizen from Long Island whose wife and breastfeeding child traveled to Guatemala for a planned meeting and are now stranded there indefinitely.

The pause affects applicants from Latin America, including Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay; Balkan countries such as Bosnia and Albania; South Asian countries including Pakistan and Bangladesh; and many countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

Petitioners also object to a related State Department directive that expands the definition of “public charge” to include non-cash benefits, private charitable use, and future speculative factors such as health care and English proficiency.

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President Donald Trump (right) speaks with Vice President J.D. Vance, left. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

They argue that the expansion conflicts with decades-old immigration law and congressional intent.

The petitioners are asking the court to declare the policies illegal, block their nationwide implementation, and reinstate legal, personalized visa processing.

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In a press release, Democracy Forward “The Trump-Vance administration is once again implementing a sweeping, discriminatory policy under the guise of bureaucratic process.”

“By freezing immigrant visas for people from 75 countries, this administration is tearing apart families, excluding the workers on whom our economy depends, and resurrecting a discredited lie of ‘public charge’ to justify collective punishment based on nationality and race,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward.

“The law does not allow the government to blacklist entire nations or weaponize immigration policy to further racial discrimination. We are in court because no administration has the authority to rewrite the Constitution or immigration law at will, and we will use every legal tool available to stop this abuse of power,” Perryman added.

“A visa is a privilege, not a right. In accordance with the law, Secretary Rubio has made clear that immigrants must be financially self-sufficient,” Chief Deputy Speaker Tommy Pigott said in a statement Monday. he said.

Pigott said, “Such a requirement prevents billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse and protects the public interest for Americans. The Department is pausing regulation to evaluate and improve screening and investigative procedures—but we will never stop fighting for American citizens first.” he added.