Federal judge reverses ‘patently unlawful’ White House visa rule after challenge from Catholic group

A federal judge has struck down a major Trump White House immigration policy, calling the directive “patently unlawful” and handing a win to a Catholic immigration group that brought suit against the administration.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas rebuked the Trump administration in the Aug. 21 ruling for what she said was a “direct” infringement on normal federal policy rules.

The U.S. government through the Department of State had issued a policy on Jan. 14 suspending new immigrant visas to dozens of countries. Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed consular offices to adhere to the policy and deny new visas to nationals of 75 countries.

In making the policy, the government alleged that immigrants from those countries were at risk of becoming “public charges.”

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network subsequently sued, arguing that the White House had in part “invented a visa processing regime” that violated U.S. statutory rules.

In her ruling, Vargas described the decision as “not a challenging case.”

Congress established “comprehensive procedures” related to immigrant visa approvals, she said; those rules rely on consular officers to determine whether or…