The Trump administration's State Department has determined that it will suspend immigrant visas for citizens of 75 nations due to the likelihood of citizens from those nations ending up on taxpayer funded public assistance. The suspension of visa processing begins on January 21.
Those who are seeking non-immigrant visas will still be permitted entry into the US on a temporary tourist or business visas. "The State Department 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 U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," the State Department said.
"The pause impacts dozens of countries – including Somalia, Haiti, Iran, and Eritrea – whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival. We are working to ensure the generosity of the American people will no longer be abused. The Trump Administration will always put America First."
This restriction comes as revelations emerge showing that large portions of the American immigrant community are taking public benefits, with numbers as high as 81% among the Somali community in Minnesota. Among legal immigrants to the US, some 52% are using at least one form of public assistance. Additionally, fraud schemes within immigrant communities have extracted billions of taxpayer funds in social service grants to fake businesses.
The new directive puts the onus on consular officials within those 75 countries "consider a range of specific details about people seeking visas, including their age, health, family status, finances, education, skills and any past use of public assistance regardless of the country. It also said they should assess applicants’ English proficiency and can do so by conducting interviews in English," the AP reports.
Those 75 nations are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, 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.
Those who are seeking non-immigrant visas will still be permitted entry into the US on a temporary tourist or business visas. "The State Department 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 U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," the State Department said.
"The pause impacts dozens of countries – including Somalia, Haiti, Iran, and Eritrea – whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival. We are working to ensure the generosity of the American people will no longer be abused. The Trump Administration will always put America First."
This restriction comes as revelations emerge showing that large portions of the American immigrant community are taking public benefits, with numbers as high as 81% among the Somali community in Minnesota. Among legal immigrants to the US, some 52% are using at least one form of public assistance. Additionally, fraud schemes within immigrant communities have extracted billions of taxpayer funds in social service grants to fake businesses.
The new directive puts the onus on consular officials within those 75 countries "consider a range of specific details about people seeking visas, including their age, health, family status, finances, education, skills and any past use of public assistance regardless of the country. It also said they should assess applicants’ English proficiency and can do so by conducting interviews in English," the AP reports.
Those 75 nations are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, 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.
