Indian-American federal District Judge Amit P Mehta of the United States Court for the District of Columbia, had written in his 11-page ruling that the Indian citizens were ‘unlikely to win their case’ contesting Trump’s work visa ban.
169 Indian citizens lodged the appeal having been left stuck in India when a Trump proclamation came in to force on June 22 shut US borders to foreign nationals. They sought an order directing the US Secretary of State and US consulates to process, adjudicate and decide on the plaintiffs’ DS-160 US visa applications.
“Calling for such swift processing would be ‘an exercise in futility’, given that the complainants would not be eligible to enter the US until at least January 1, 2021 – at the earliest,” Mehta said. “On the merits, the court has already determined that the Indian nationals who have filed the lawsuit and are stuck in India are unlikely to succeed on their ‘ultra vires’ challenge to the presidential proclamation.”
Under the proclamation, foreign nationals are banned from entering the US on certain types of non-immigrant visas, including the H-1B, L1 and J1 visas and more. The recent ruling comes at a time when the so-called specialty worker visa is set to become more difficult to obtain.
The US Department of Homeland Security recently submitted a draft regulation to the Office of Management and Budget outlining the proposed restrictions on issuing work visas to non-US citizens.