Courts and the Constitution

Civil-rights organizations and several U.S. citizens have filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan challenging the Trump administration’s Jan. 21, 2026 suspension of immigrant visa processing for nationals of 75 countries, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Brazil, Colombia, Thailand, Russia and Cambodia. The complaint, brought by the National Immigration Law Center, Democracy Forward, The Legal Aid Society and others, argues the State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio effectively imposed an unlawful, nationality-based immigration ban and tried to rewrite long‑standing 'public charge' rules without going through the required regulatory process. Plaintiffs include U.S. citizens separated from spouses and children, and a Colombian endocrinologist with an approved 'Einstein visa' who was just told he is ineligible for an employment-based green card solely because Colombia is on the freeze list. The department has defended the freeze in prior public statements as a temporary step to block migrants it claims "extract wealth" from Americans, but a recent Cato Institute study cited in the suit found immigrants consume about 24% less in welfare benefits per capita than native‑born Americans. The case puts front and center a major legal test of Trump’s effort to use welfare rhetoric to justify a sweeping halt to legal immigration from mostly non‑white countries.