A coalition of civil rights groups and U.S. citizens has sued the State Department over its broad suspension of immigrant visa processing for people from 75 countries, saying the policy sought to “eviscerate decades of settled immigration law.”
The Trump administration’s pause, which took effect Jan. 21, covers nations including Afghanistan, Somalia, Brazil, Colombia, Thailand, Russia and Cambodia. Officials say the measure is intended to curb immigration from countries “whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.” The complaint filed Monday in Manhattan federal court argues the policy imposes a nationality-based ban on lawful immigration and deprives families and workers of processes guaranteed by law.
“The law has never deemed a person inadmissible merely because they have received, or may one day need, non-cash public benefits or private charitable assistance; indeed, such temporary support has always been understood as part of the lawful process of integration and economic growth,” the complaint says.
The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Most countries on the freeze list are majority non-white and located outside Europe. The department has said on social media the temporary ban will “remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people.”
The lawsuit was filed by the National Immigration Law Center, Democracy Forward, The Legal Aid Society and other organizations on behalf of a diverse set of plaintiffs, including U.S. citizens who say they have been separated from family members because of the policy.
Efrén Olivares, vice president of litigation at the National Immigration Law Center, told NPR that the State Department, under Secretary Marco Rubio, failed to follow required regulatory procedures before implementing a blanket pause on immigrant visas. “It’s just inconceivable that every single person from an entire country would pose any sort of risk of becoming what the law calls a ‘public charge,'” he said.
One plaintiff is a Colombian physician and endocrinologist who completed postdoctoral training in molecular physiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School in 2000. He was approved for an employment-based “Einstein Visa” for people of extraordinary ability in January 2025 but was later informed he is ineligible for a first-preference employment visa because Colombia is on the ban list.
A recent Cato Institute study found that immigrants used about 24% less in welfare benefits per capita than native-born Americans, noting that even lower-skilled immigrants tend to be positively selected and have limited legal access to welfare.
Olivares said the suit seeks enforcement of the law and individualized assessments of visa applicants rather than nationality-based discrimination against nearly half the countries in the world.