A federal judge has blocked the enforcement of the H-1B visa ban issued by President Donald Trump in June this year, saying the president exceeded his constitutional authority.
The order was issued on Thursday by District Judge Jeffrey White of Northern District of California.
The lawsuit against the Department of Commerce and Department of Homeland Security was filed by companies represented by National Association of Manufacturers, US Chamber of Commerce, National Retail Federation and TechNet.
The ruling places an immediate hold on a series of visa restrictions that prevent manufacturers from filling crucial, hard-to-fill jobs to support economic recovery, growth and innovation when most needed, the National Association of manufacturers said.
In June, Trump had issued an executive order that had put temporary bar on issuing of new H-1B and other foreign visas including H-2B, J and L visas, till the end of the year.
The president had argued that the United States needs to save and protect jobs for its domestic work force at a time when millions of them lost their jobs due to coronavirus pandemic.
A number of IT companies and other US firms, and those representing them had voiced their opposition to the temporary ban.
Manufacturers went to court to challenge the administration’s ban on certain visas because the restrictions both undermined the industry at a critical time and conflicted with the law, said NAM senior vice president and general counsel Linda Kelly. “We are competing with the rest of the world to find and develop top talent to support innovation in our industry. Today’s decision is a temporary win for manufacturers committed to building that innovation in the United States,” he said.
