United States citizens, among them New Yorkers with relatives who in some cases are “stuck” in countries including Ghana, Jamaica, Guatemala and Ethiopia, have asked a federal judge in Manhattan to halt the Trump administration’s pause on processing visas for nationals from 75 countries, contending the policy is based on racial stereotypes and hostility toward nonwhite immigrants.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, seeks to block the administration’s month-old ban on processing visas for people from the targeted countries, almost all of which have populations that are significantly nonwhite. The administration claims the action is warranted because citizens from the 75 nations are at high risk of becoming a “public charge,” or otherwise reliant on public benefits.

The visa suspension, which the plaintiffs contend places nearly half of all visa applications on hold, including some already approved, is based on an “unsupported and demonstrably false claim” that nationals from those countries rely on public assistance, according to the complaint. The lawsuit is the latest legal challenge of the administration's crackdown on legal and illegal immigration, a hallmark of President Donald Trump’s second term.

The lawsuit calls the “public charge” concerns "baseless” and a pretext for limiting the immigration of nonwhites. It cites the president’s “well-documented history” of disparaging immigrants from Latin American, Caribbean, African and predominantly Muslim nations, all of which are well represented among those on the visa-ban list.

“President Trump has referred to such immigrants as coming from “shithole countries,” countries that are “filthy, dirty, disgusting,” “a disaster,” and “hellholes,” and stated that such immigrants are “trash” and “garbage,” are “poisoning the blood of our country,” and are “non-compatible with Western Civilization,” according to the complaint. At once, the president has expressed a preference for white immigrants from nations including Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

"The 75-country visa ban is yet another unlawful and racist policy from the Trump administration that disproportionately harms Africans seeking to immigrate to the United States," Diana Konate, deputy executive director of policy and advocacy at the group African Communities Together, said in a statement.

The Department of State, named as a defendant, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, did not respond to a request for comment. The State Department announced the visa ban in a post on social media Jan. 14, writing it would “pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.”

It added: “The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people.”

The legal challenge alleges violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, as well as equal protection and due process claims. It was filed by a host of groups including the National Immigration Law Center, the Legal Aid Society and the Center for Constitutional Rights. It was brought on behalf of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., African Communities Together and 11 individuals suing on behalf of immigrant family members.

Among the plaintiffs is Agnes Kyeremaa, a U.S. citizen and New York City resident, who petitioned on behalf of her four adult sons and daughters and grandchildren, all nationals and residents of Ghana. All four of her children’s visas were approved and the fees paid, when they received notices that their visas were refused because Ghana is among the 75 nations subject to the blanket ban.

“Ms. Kyeremaa has never been institutionalized, or wholly dependent on government aid for her life in the United States,” the complaint states. “She lives, works, shops and pays local, state and federal taxes in New York City, New York.”

Another individual plaintiff is Patricia Richardson, a U.S. citizen and Bronx resident, who petitioned on behalf of her sister, a national and resident of Jamaica. Her visa was also approved, only to be rescinded because Jamaica is on the banned-nations list. Richardson, according to the court papers, “has never been institutionalized, or wholly dependent on government aid for her life in the United States.”

“She supports herself and her family financially,” according to the complaint, adding that Richardson, too, “lives, works, shops and pays local, state and federal taxes in New York City.”

Cesar Andred Aguirre, a U.S. citizen who lives in Shirley, Suffolk County, is another of the individual plaintiffs. A warehouse supervisor who earned about $104,000 in 2024, Aguirre is seeking to be reunited with his wife, a Guatemalan national who usually lives in Shirley.

His wife, Dania Mariela Escobar Carranza, has been “stuck” in Guatemala, with the couple’s youngest child, after traveling there for a consular interview, then being notified that Guatemala was included on the list of banned nations.

The lawsuit asks a judge to declare the visa ban “unauthorized” under U.S. law and the Constitution, bar the government from enforcing it and to resume “case-by-case” consideration of visa applications. It also asks the court to award the plaintiffs attorney fees and other relief “as the Court deems just and proper.”