The Trump administration said on Wednesday that it would suspend the processing of immigrant visas for people from 75 countries, intensifying its efforts to curtail legal migration to the United States.
The State Department said in a social media post that the effort was meant to discourage immigration from countries “whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.” It did not provide a full list of the countries affected by the pause, but it confirmed that Somalia, Haiti, Iran and Eritrea would be included. It also did not specify the percentage of immigrants from those countries who use public assistance.
The announcement is part of the federal government’s crackdown on immigration, which has included efforts to upend legal pathways for migrants seeking to enter or stay in the United States. It also comes as the Trump administration conducts an immigration enforcement blitz in Minnesota, the state with the largest population of Somalis in the United States.
Federal officials said that the pause would begin on Jan. 21 and would remain in place while the department reassesses its processing procedures. The suspension would not apply to people seeking to enter the United States temporarily for tourism, business or medical treatment.
“The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people,” Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement.
Mr. Pigott said the department would “use its longstanding authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge,” referring to people who rely on government benefits.
The Trump administration has taken various steps in recent months to tighten legal pathways for migrants. The administration has already imposed full or partial travel restrictions on citizens from 39 countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti, Syria, Somalia and Chad. Federal officials have said the travel ban was necessary to protect national security.
The administration has also taken measures that could make it more difficult for certain immigrants already living in the United States to remain in the country. In December, the Department of Homeland Security put on hold immigration applications from citizens of the countries subject to the president’s travel ban, pausing their efforts to obtain benefits such as U.S. citizenship and green cards.
The announcement on Wednesday is also a reprisal of the Trump administration’s focus on immigrants who depend on public assistance. During Mr. Trump’s first term, his administration sought to deny green cards to immigrants who relied on public benefits such as food assistance and housing vouchers.
The Trump administration has also intensely focused on Somalis in recent weeks, deploying roughly 3,000 federal officers and agents to Minnesota. Federal officials said the move was meant to crack down on fraud and illegal immigration. On Tuesday, the Trump administration also said it would end temporary deportation protections for more than 2,000 Somali migrants living in the United States.
His administration’s focus on Minnesota came after revelations about a fraud scheme that siphoned money from social service programs in the state in recent years. More than 90 people have been charged in the federal fraud investigations, and most of the defendants are of Somali descent.
Madeleine Ngo covers immigration and economic policy for The Times.
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