U.S. District Judge Jeanette a Vargas, a Biden appointee, struck down Trump’s policy suspending immigrant visa issuances for nationals of 75 countries.
Consequently, she set aside refusals based solely on the policy and required those cases to be considered by consular officers.
District judges are still running the country.
Moreover, she claimed that this was an excess of Secretary Rubio’s statutory authority. Rubio’s order instructed US embassies and consulates to suspend immigrant visa adjudications. This January order is meant to allow the State Department to reassess its vetting procedures under existing immigration law.
The State Department wanted to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.
Judge Vargas decided that consular officers have the exclusive authority and discretion.
Similarly, Vargas claimed the order categorically prohibits the issuance of immigrant visas based on the applicant’s nationality, represents a direct abrogation of the statutory scheme, and vacates visa denials based on the policy. She said she was concerned about separating spouses, parents, and children, which could easily be solved by sending them all back home.
Furthermore, the judge said her Catholic social teaching tells her to uphold the dignity of every person. I thought we separated church and state.
So far, the State Department hasn’t responded, but they’re trying to stop the abuse of our immigration system.