US to pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries over public assistance concerns

The US State Department said on Wednesday that it will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries.

"The pause impacts dozens of countries — including Somalia, Haiti, Iran, and Eritrea — whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival," the department said on X.

In the context of US immigration, a "public charge" refers to someone who is considered likely to be reliant on public benefits for basic needs.

"The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," it added.

The suspension will begin on Jan 21 and a full list of the countries on the administration's list has not been released.

"Immigrant 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," said Tommy Pigott, principal deputy spokesperson at the State Department.

The move came a day after the State Department announced that it had revoked more than 100,000 visas since President Donald Trump took office nearly a year ago.

In late November, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he would "permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries" following a shooting incident in the US capital involving an Afghan national that resulted in the death of a National Guard member.

Last month, the Trump administration added 20 countries to a list of nations whose citizens face a complete or partial travel ban to the US, bringing the total number of countries on the list to 39.