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WASHINGTON- A U.S. judge on Friday struck down, a Trump administration policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to \u200bapplicants from 75 countries, saying that the policy exceeded Secretary of \u200cState Marco Rubio\u2019s statutory authority.<\/strong><\/p>\n U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan said the policy that the State Department announced in January was \u201cpatently unlawful\u201d and ran afoul of federal \u200bimmigration law, which explicitly stripped the secretary of state of \u200bauthority over consular officers\u2019 processing of immigrant visas.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Policy, which categorically \u2060prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas based upon the nationality of \u200bthe applicant, represents a direct abrogation of this statutory scheme,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n The State \u200bDepartment\u2019s suspension that also took effect in January impacted applicants from Latin American countries including Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay; Balkan nations such as Bosnia and Albania; South Asian \u200bcountries Pakistan and Bangladesh; and those from many nations in Africa, the \u200bMiddle East, and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n The State Department said applicants from those countries were \u201cat a \u200chigh \u2060risk for becoming a public charge and recourse to local, state and federal government resources in the United States.\u201d The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.<\/p>\n Vargas, an appointee of Democratic \u200bformer President Joe \u200bBiden, issued the \u2060ruling in a lawsuit filed by immigrant rights groups Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together along with \u200bapplicants for immigrant visas and U.S. citizens who are \u200bsponsoring family \u2060members from the designated countries for immigrant visas.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump has pursued an aggressive immigration crackdown that he says is aimed at improving domestic security.<\/p>\n Rights groups \u2060say \u200bthe crackdown has violated free speech and due \u200bprocess rights and has created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised \u200bconcerns about racial profiling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n