Federal judge blasts Rubio’s 75-country visa freeze as ‘Orwellian,’ strikes down policy

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. The Supreme Court delivered two significant immigration victories for President Donald Trump, allowing the administration to terminate temporary protected status for over a million migrants and restrict asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border. A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s freeze on immigrant visas from 75 countries Friday, ruling Secretary of State Marco Rubio lacked the legal authority to order denials for applicants otherwise found eligible to enter the United States. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, a Biden appointee in Manhattan, vacated the State Department policy and any visa refusals based solely on it, directing the government to revisit those cases. "The Court holds that the Policy is contrary to law and was issued in excess of Secretary Rubio’s statutory authority," Vargas wrote in her 61-page opinion. The Sta