A United States federal judge has struck down the Trump administration’s policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to nationals of 75 countries, including Nigeria.
U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas of the Southern District of New York issued the ruling on Friday, August 21, 2026, holding that the policy exceeded the statutory authority of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and violated federal immigration law.
Judge Vargas described the policy as “patently unlawful”, according to the court’s opinion.
In her ruling, the judge said; “the policy, which categorically prohibited the issuance of immigrant visas based on applicants’ nationality, represented a direct violation of the statutory scheme under U.S. immigration law.”
The policy was announced by the U.S. Department of State in January and took effect on January 21, 2026. It suspended immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 designated countries, including Nigeria.
The State Department had justified the measure by saying “immigrants from the affected countries were considered at high risk of relying on public assistance in the United States.”
The department said; “applicants from the designated countries were at high risk of becoming a public charge and relying on local, state and federal government resources in the United States.”
Judge Vargas, however, found that the policy improperly replaced the individual assessment required under U.S. immigration law with a blanket restriction based on nationality.
The court ordered that the policy be vacated under the U.S. Administrative Procedure Act and that immigrant-visa refusals based solely on the policy be set aside for further proceedings consistent with the ruling.
The lawsuit was brought by immigrant-rights organisations, including the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together, alongside affected immigrant-visa applicants and U.S. citizens sponsoring family members from the designated countries.
The ruling removes the specific nationality-based suspension that had prevented eligible Nigerians and nationals of the other designated countries from receiving immigrant visas under the January policy.
However, the ruling does not automatically guarantee visa issuance, as applicants will remain subject to applicable U.S. immigration and visa requirements.
The administration could also seek further judicial review of the ruling.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; U.S. Department of State
Reuters.
