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<\/p>\nU.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s administration is suspending processing for immigrant visas for applicants from 75 countries, a State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday, as part of Washington\u2019s intensifying immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n
The pause, which will impact applicants from Latin American countries including Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay, Balkan countries such as Bosnia and Albania, South Asian countries Pakistan and Bangladesh, and those from many nations in Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, will begin on January 21, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
A State Department cable outlining the move and seen by Reuters said the Department was undergoing a \u201cfull review\u201d of all policies, regulations and guidance to ensure \u201cthe highest level of screening and vetting\u201d for all U.S. visa applicants.<\/p>\n
The cable, sent to U.S. missions, said there were indications that nationals from these countries had sought public benefits in the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cApplicants from these countries are at a high risk for becoming a public charge and recourse to local, state and federal government resources in the United States,\u201d the cable outlining the move which was reviewed by Reuters said.<\/p>\n
The move, which was first reported by Fox News, does not impact U.S. visitor visas, which have been in the spotlight given the United States is hosting the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The decision follows a November directive to U.S. diplomats asking them to ensure that visa applicants are financially self-sufficient and do not risk becoming dependent on government subsidies during their stay in the U.S., according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people,\u201d said Tommy Pigott, Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the State Department.<\/p>\n
\u201cImmigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassesses immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The cable directed U.S. consular officers to refuse any applicants whose visas have been \u201cprint-authorized\u201d but have not been printed, or those that have been printed but have not left the consular section.<\/p>\n
LEGAL IMMIGRATION<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump has pursued a sweeping immigration crackdown since returning to office in January. His administration has aggressively prioritized immigration enforcement, sending federal agents to major U.S. cities and sparking violent confrontations with both migrants and U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n While he campaigned on stopping illegal immigration into the United States, his administration has also made legal immigration more difficult \u2013 for example, by imposing new and expensive fees, opens new tab on the applicants of H-1B visas for highly skilled workers. \u201cThis action will ban nearly half of all legal immigrants to the United States, turning away about 315,000 legal immigrants over the next year alone,\u201d Bier said.<\/p>\n The State Department has revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump took office, it said on Monday. The administration has also adopted a stricter policy on granting visas, with tightened social media vetting and expanded screening.<\/p>\n Trump, a Republican, captured the White House saying a tougher stance on immigration was needed after years of high levels of illegal immigration under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. FULL LIST OF COUNTRIES<\/strong><\/p>\n The list of countries that will be impacted by the suspension, according to a U.S. official, are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, North Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s administration is suspending processing for immigrant visas for applicants from 75 countries, a State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday, as part of Washington\u2019s intensifying immigration crackdown. The pause, which will impact applicants from Latin American countries including Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay, Balkan countries such as Bosnia and Albania, South Asian countries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","category-breaking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1527,"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526\/revisions\/1527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eelam24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cThis administration has proven itself to have the most anti-legal immigration agenda in American history,\u201d David Bier, Cato\u2019s Director of Immigration Studies and The Selz Foundation Chair in Immigration Policy, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\nIn November, Trump had vowed to \u201cpermanently pause\u201d migration from all \u201cThird World Countries\u201d following a shooting near the White House by an Afghan national that killed a National Guard member.<\/p>\n