Overview
- A coalition of civil-rights and immigration groups, joined by affected U.S. citizens, filed the suit in the Southern District of New York naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department.
- The policy, effective January 21, directs consulates to continue interviews but pause final issuance for nationals of 75 mostly non-European countries, with nonimmigrant visas unaffected.
- The complaint estimates the pause captures roughly 40% to 45% of immigrant visa applicants worldwide and has halted some visas that were already approved or authorized for printing.
- Plaintiffs cite family separations and blocked employment visas, including a Long Island father whose wife and infant are stuck in Guatemala and a New York grandmother whose approved Ghanaian relatives were turned away, as well as a Colombian physician with an approved EB-1A visa.
- The State Department defends the freeze as a temporary vetting measure tied to financial self-sufficiency requirements, with no published end date or criteria for lifting it, and no court ruling has issued to date.