A United States federal court has blocked a policy introduced by President Donald Trump that suspended immigrant visa processing for citizens of Nigeria and 74 other countries.

US District Judge Jeannette Vargas issued the ruling on Friday in the Southern District of New York, declaring that the policy exceeded the legal authority of the US Department of State.

The court held that the January policy, introduced by the State Department, was unlawful and went beyond the powers granted to Secretary of State Marco Rubio under federal immigration law.

The policy had halted the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, including Nigeria and several other African nations.

The Trump administration had defended the measure, arguing that applicants from the affected countries were more likely to depend on public assistance after arriving in the United States.

Nigeria was among the countries included on the list, alongside Ghana, Cameroon, Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Tunisia.

The restrictions also affected countries across Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America.

The ruling effectively prevents the implementation of the policy while reaffirming the limits of the State Department’s authority under US immigration law.