WASHINGTON, JAN 15 (DNA):U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is suspending processing for immigrant visas for applicants from Pakistan and 74 countries, a State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday, as part of Washington’s intensifying immigration crackdown.
The pause, which will impact applicants from South Asia, besides Pakistan, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and from Latin American countries including Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay, Balkan countries such as Bosnia and Albania, and those from many nations in Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, will begin on January 21, the spokesperson said.
The State Department wrote on social media that it “will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates”.
“The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,” the statement continued. “We are working to ensure the generosity of the American people will no longer be abused.”
The suspension specifically applies to U.S. immigrant visas for foreigners seeking to live in the United States but not to short-term visas for those visiting as temporary workers, students, and tourists, including FIFA World Cup-related visas.
The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration has intensified to record levels, with the State Department saying last week that it revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump returned to office. On the other hand, the Homeland Security Department reported last month that more than 605,000 people have been deported, while an additional 2.5 million left the country on their own.
The pause follows Trump’s December expansion of travel bans to 39 countries, suspension of asylum processing, and halting of citizenship and green card applications for citizens of countries already subject to restrictions.
Meanwhile, researchers contradicts administration’s claims about immigrant welfare use. In February 2025, the libertarian Cato Institute published a paper showing that native-born Americans consumed, on an average per capita basis, more welfare and entitlement benefits than all immigrants. The study found immigrants consumed 21% fewer welfare and entitlement benefits than native-born Americans on a per capita basis in 2022.
Migration policy experts also warned that the move will have far-reaching consequences beyond those directly affected by visa denials.
During a State of the Union address during his first term, Trump held the position that he supports legal immigration because immigrants “enrich our nation and strengthen our society in countless ways”. He went on to say in the same speech that he wanted people to enter the US “in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally”.
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