The US Supreme Court building in Washington. [AP]
The US Supreme Court building in Washington. [AP]

A US court has blocked the Trump administration's suspension of visa issuance for immigrants from 75 countries.

A federal district court in Manhattan ruled Friday that the Department of State's visa restrictions violated federal law, according to The New York Times.

The court found no legal basis for the Trump administration's claim that immigrants from the 75 targeted countries would impose a fiscal burden on Americans.

The court also said the blanket denial of visas — even to immigrants deemed likely to be self-sufficient — was unlawful, as it bypassed the individualized review required under immigration statutes.

The court voided all prior visa denials issued under the policy, a ruling that could trigger a large-scale review of applications already on file.

The Trump administration announced in January that it would suspend immigrant visa issuance for nationals of 75 countries whose immigrants it said were likely to rely on US welfare benefits.

The list included Somalia, Haiti and Iran, as well as Russia, Brazil and Colombia. A number of US allies, including Jordan and Egypt, were also named.

American civil society groups filed a lawsuit challenging the measure, calling it an attempt to "completely overturn the immigration legal framework established over decades."

An attorney for the plaintiffs called the ruling "an important victory for hundreds of thousands of families around the world thrown into chaos by the administration's unlawful and discriminatory visa ban."


moon@heraldcorp.com