Trump administration to suspend immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries
The Trump administration announced Wednesday it will stop giving out visas to nationals of dozens of countries who are seeking to move to the U.S. permanently, escalating its broad crackdown on legal immigration.
The State Department, which oversees visa processing at U.S. embassies and consulates, said it would indefinitely pause the issuance of immigrant visas requested by citizens of 75 countries, halting legal immigration channels for roughly 38% of all nations in the world.
Officials said the pause would apply to immigrant visas, meaning those requested by people abroad who have been sponsored by American relatives or employers to move to the U.S. permanently. The suspension, officials said, does not affect temporary visas requested by would-be tourists and travelers seeking to come to the U.S. on a short-term basis.
The State Department said the 75 countries were chosen as part of an effort to bar the entry of immigrants who were likely to rely on public assistance once in the U.S. Officials said they would examine immigration procedures during the pause to better identify and bar would-be immigrants from those countries who were likely to become a "public charge" — or an economic burden — on the U.S.
"The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates," the department said Wednesday. "The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people."
The State Department did not formally publish a full list of the 75 affected nations, but said Somalia, Haiti, Iran and Eritrea are among them. A list first reported by Fox News, and confirmed by the State Department to CBS News, includes countries like Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Guatemala, Pakistan and Senegal.
The list of countries also include Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
The pause on immigrant visas is set to take effect next week, on Jan. 21, according to a U.S. official and a congressional official briefed on the move.
Longstanding federal law bars immigrants from coming to the U.S. or getting lawful permanent residency if they are deemed to become a public charge. Historically, the restriction has been applied in limited cases, such as when immigrants would require long-term institutionalized care in the U.S.
But dating back to President Trump's first administration, his aides have sought to dramatically expand who can be considered ineligible to immigrate to the U.S. on public charge grounds.
While the Trump administration has launched a highly-visible crackdown on illegal immigration across the U.S., it has simultaneously issued a series of policies to sharply restrict legal immigration, with less fanfare.
The latest version of Mr. Trump's "travel ban" proclamation, for example, fully bans or restricts immigration and travel from 39 countries, most of them in Asia and Africa. His administration has also frozen refugee admissions, except for a few groups, mainly Afrikaners in South Africa.