Major Blow to Trump: Court Strikes Down Visa Freeze Affecting 75 Countries

• Court Halts Visa Suspension
• Ruling Benefits 75 Countries
• Applications Could Be Reconsidered

A federal court invalidated the suspension of immigrant visas for 75 countries imposed by the Government of President Donald Trump, according to Efe.

Federal Judge Jeannette Vargas determined that Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his legal authority in applying the policy.

The decision strikes down a measure in effect since January and directly affects applicants from countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions.

Among the nations included were Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Uruguay, as well as Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Morocco.

Court Halts Trump’s Visa Suspension

A federal court strikes down the visa suspension ordered by Trump for 75 countries.https://t.co/Uw9hP97ng9

— EFE Noticias (@EFEnoticias) August 22, 2026

Why it matters: The ruling could open the door to reviewing applications that were rejected solely under the now-invalidated policy.

In a 61-page ruling, Vargas deemed the ban «manifestly illegal» and questioned one of the Administration’s main arguments.

The Government had justified the suspension by citing the risk that applicants from certain countries would become an «economic burden» on the United States.

However, the judge concluded that the way the policy was applied conflicted with existing regulations.

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U.S. officials had been instructed to deny visas even to immigrants who met the requirements and were likely to be self-sufficient economically.

According to the ruling, this practice contravened a rule requiring individualized assessments of each applicant’s circumstances.

The suspension also applied to citizens of Nigeria, Russia, Somalia, Thailand, and Yemen, in addition to other countries included in the directive.

The judicial decision thus challenges a policy that had established general restrictions based on the applicants’ country of origin.

Colombians Among Plaintiffs Against the Policy

Judge strikes down suspension of residence visas for 75 countries in the U.S.

A federal judge in New York struck down the suspension of permanent residence visa applications that the U.S. government had imposed in January on 75 countries.

Judge Jeannette Vargas determined that the… pic.twitter.com/yJwiTdjVOn

— NX Noticias (@NXNoticias) August 22, 2026

The fact: Five Colombian professionals are among the plaintiffs who brought the suspension before the courts, which was promoted by the Trump Administration.

The five had received denials of their visa applications, which specifically cited the new government policy.

The case also includes six U.S. citizens who claim that the ban directly harmed members of their families.

Those family members were in Ghana, Jamaica, Guatemala, and Ethiopia, according to information cited by The New York Times.

The ruling does not only invalidate the policy used to stop the issuance of immigrant visas since January.

Vargas also revoked the visa denials that were based exclusively on the declared illegal measure.

This part of the ruling could lead to the review of thousands of applications that had already been processed under the restrictions.

Joanna Cuevas Ingram, chief attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, called the resolution a significant victory for the affected families.

«This decision represents a significant victory for the hundreds of thousands of families across the country and the world,» Cuevas Ingram said.

The attorney argued that their lives were altered by a visa ban that she described as «illegal and discriminatory».

According to Cuevas Ingram, the court «made it clear that immigration laws cannot be used to justify discrimination».

Organizations Celebrate the Ruling While Washington Remains Silent

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, also celebrated the federal court’s decision.

Perryman described the ruling as a «resounding rejection of an illegal and discriminatory policy» that caused harm to families and communities.

«The Trump-Vance Administration cannot use immigration law to veto entire countries, separate families,» Perryman said.

She also argued that the Government cannot «deny rights guaranteed by the Constitution without being held accountable for it».

What’s next: The ruling renders the suspension ineffective and opens the possibility of reviewing denials based solely on that policy.

The practical scope will be especially relevant for those who received a denial under the directive applied since January to citizens of the affected countries.

The resolution also represents a judicial setback for Marco Rubio, whose authority to impose the measure was directly questioned by Judge Vargas.

For now, neither the State Department nor the White House has commented on the federal court’s decision.