Civil-rights groups sue State Department over 75-country visa pause

A coalition of civil-rights and immigration organizations asked a federal judge in Manhattan to block the State Department’s blanket pause on consular immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries, saying the policy unlawfully bars families and approved workers from entering the United States.

The complaint, filed February 2, challenges a pause that took effect January 21. Plaintiffs led by the National Immigration Law Center, along with other groups that the complaint names, say the policy rests on what it calls “an unsupported and demonstrably false claim that nationals of the covered countries migrate to the United States to improperly rely on cash welfare and are likely to become ‘public charges.’” The filing says the policy “eviscerate[s] decades of settled immigration law” and seeks a court order blocking the pause.

The suit lists concrete harms that plaintiffs say flow from the restriction. Among them are U.S. citizens who say they have been separated from family members and an endocrinologist from Colombia who was approved for an employment‑based visa but cannot obtain it because Colombia is one of the covered countries. The complaint describes a broad sweep: nationals from Latin America, the Balkans, South Asia and “many nations in Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean” are affected, with examples including Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bosnia, Albania, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The State Department defended the action in a statement attributed to a spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, saying “A visa is a privilege not a right.” Pigott added, “The Department is pausing issuance to evaluate and enhance screening and vetting procedures - but we will never stop fighting for American citizens first,” and the department framed the pause as a measure to prevent “billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse.” The department’s social‑media posts have also said the temporary ban will “remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people.”

Plaintiffs’ counsel further alleged procedural defects in how the pause was enacted. Efrén Olivares, vice president of litigation at the National Immigration Law Center, told plaintiff representatives that “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.'” The complaint also alleges that the department failed to follow required regulatory processes before imposing a blanket freeze.

The suit asks the Manhattan federal court to issue injunctive relief to halt the pause while the litigation proceeds. The filing does not, in the materials reviewed by reporters, include a full roster of every organization in the coalition or the complete list of the 75 countries; those details and the complaint docket remain to be obtained from court records or the filing itself.

The litigation pits long‑standing immigration doctrines and statutory procedures against a broad administrative action that plaintiffs say categorically excludes nationals from dozens of countries. The State Department frames the pause as a temporary measure to tighten screening and protect U.S. interests; plaintiffs portray it as a legally deficient and discriminatory departure from established immigration law. The court in Manhattan will be asked to resolve whether the pause can remain in place while those competing claims are litigated.