US to lift restrictions on visa issuance after California court rules against Trump's ban

AMERICAN district judge Jeffrey White has temporarily lifted the US visa ban on a large number of work permits that was imposed by President Donald Trump earlier this year that limited the number of Nigerians who can enter the country.

Following the outbreak of the pandemic, President Trump's administration announced the ban to limit legal immigration. However, in a reprieve yesterday, Justice White delivered a ruling in Oakland, California, which favoured members of organisations that sued the federal government.

These include the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Retail Federation, technology industry group TechNet and Intrax Inc. Justice White said his order did not extend beyond the groups comprised of hundreds of thousands of American businesses of all sizes from a cross-section of economic sectors.

He said: “There must be some measure of constraint on presidential authority in the domestic sphere in order not to render the executive an entirely monarchical power in the immigration context, an area within clear legislative prerogative."

An attorney for the associations, Paul Hughes, said the US Chamber of Commerce alone has more than 300,000 members of all shapes and sizes across the US. Following yesterday's judgement, the ban, from June to December 2020, will remain lifted while the case is being litigated.

It affected H-1B visas, used by American and Indian technology companies, H-2B visas for non-agricultural seasonal workers. J visas for cultural exchanges and L visas for managers and other key employees of multinational corporations. Also, in his judgment, Justice White stopped fee increases for citizenship and other benefits.