75-Country Immigrant Visa Ban Ruled Unlawful
24 August 2026
On Friday, August 21, 2026 the Trump administration’s policy suspending immigrant visa processing - essentially, no green cards (or path to green cards) - for individuals from 75 countries, originally enacted early in 2026, was struck down. While the State Department claimed the policy was necessary due to public assistance concerns, District Judge Jeannette Vargas found the policy to be in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of nationality in the issuance of immigrant visas. The court vacated and set aside any visa denial based solely on this policy, as well as ordered the State Department to restore lawful, case-by-case evaluation of immigrant visa applications. Read the decision here.
NOTE: This ruling relates only to the 75-country immigrant visa processing pause policy; at this time, the travel ban (and related non-processing of visas) policies remain in effect, though litigation is ongoing.
