The U.S. State Department said the freeze would affect nationals of Somalia, Haiti, Iran, Eritrea and other countries.
Published January 14, 2026
The United States has announced it will suspend processing immigrant visas from 75 countries around the world, as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its widespread crackdown on immigration.
The State Department announced Wednesday that it is suspending visa processing for countries where “immigrants deprive U.S. citizens of welfare benefits at unacceptable amounts.”
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“The freeze will remain in place until the United States can guarantee that new immigrants will not extract wealth from American citizens,” it said, adding that the measure would affect “dozens of countries” including Somalia, Haiti, Iran and Eritrea.
Since returning to office in January 2025, President Trump has pursued tough anti-immigrant policies and vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
Over the past year, he has announced restrictions on several U.S. visa programs and sharply reduced the number of refugees admitted to the United States.
The administration has also deployed heavily armed immigration agents to major U.S. cities to detain and deport people suspected of being in the country illegally.
The State Department announced earlier this week that it had canceled more than 100,000 visas since President Trump returned to the White House, a single-year record.
The Department of Homeland Security announced last month that the Trump administration had deported more than 605,000 people, with the remaining 2.5 million people leaving the United States on their own.
The State Department on Wednesday did not immediately release a complete list of countries subject to the immigrant visa freeze.
Brazil, Egypt, Thailand, Nigeria, Iraq and Yemen are affected, AFP news agency reported, citing unnamed US officials.
Meanwhile, a State Department spokesperson said the freeze on immigrant visa processing will begin on January 21st.
This measure does not apply to applicants seeking nonimmigrant visas or temporary tourist or business visas.
David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, said the Trump administration has “proven to have the most anti-legal immigration policies in American history.”
“This action would bar nearly half of all legal immigration to the United States, resulting in approximately 315,000 legal immigrants being denied next year alone,” Bier said in a statement.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the U.S. Immigration Council, said Wednesday’s announcement, when combined with previously announced U.S. travel bans, means the Trump administration has “banned or suspended immigrant visas for 90 countries.”
Reichlin-Melnik added that 70% of the targeted countries were in Africa.
