A federal judge has dealt a major blow to the Trump administration’s Green Card freeze on 75 countries, ruling that the State Department policy is illegal and exceeds the authority granted by Congress.
Indian-American Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, appointed by former President Barack Obama, held that the public charge policy issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio is “an exercise of authority specifically denied by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act,” according to a Bloomberg report.
The Policy and the Challenge
The State Department policy, which took effect in January, targets countries whose citizens are deemed likely to use US welfare and become a burden on the administration. The freeze has halted Green Card applications from citizens of those nations.
In this particular lawsuit, Newton De Moura Gomes, a Brazilian national, sued the State Department after the policy halted his application for an immigrant visa through the EB-5 investor visa program.
His May complaint alleged multiple violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, including unlawful withholding of an agency decision and policy contrary to law.
The Judge’s Ruling
Mehta agreed with Gomes. “Under the Public Charge Policy, the Secretary of State is doing precisely what the INA prohibits: he is controlling individual visa application determinations,” Mehta wrote.
The policy plainly nullifies the discretionary authority of consular officers on individual applications, he wrote. Mehta also found that the doctrine of consular non-reviewability, which generally shields those decisions from judicial review, does not block consideration of the case because it challenged a State Department policy, not an individual visa decision.
His order enjoined the State Department from applying the public charge policy to De Moura Gomes’ visa request and from adjudicating his application when it is deemed complete by a consular officer.
The Reaction
Edward Ramos, a partner at Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli and Pratt P.A. and counsel for De Moura Gomes, called the State Department policy “blatantly unlawful and fundamentally unfair.”
“We are pleased the Court recognized that the State Department cannot require individualized review and then dictate refusal regardless of the result,” he said in a statement. “Congress entrusted visa decisions to consular officers applying the law to each case. This policy stripped them of that judgment and predetermined the outcome.”
The Government’s Response
A State Department spokesperson told Bloomberg that the agency doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation as a general matter but added that the Trump administration is “upholding the highest standards of screening and vetting of visa applicants.”
The Bigger Picture
This is not the first blow to the policy. There are multiple lawsuits in New York and DC district courts against the State Department policy. The ruling could have significant implications for the thousands of applicants from the 75 affected countries whose Green Card applications have been frozen.
The Bottom Line
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s 75-country Green Card ban is illegal, finding that the State Department policy exceeds congressional authority. The ruling, which applies to a Brazilian investor’s case, could pave the way for similar challenges. The State Department says it is upholding “the highest standards” of vetting.
