The Trump administration has paused issuing immigration visas for people from 75 countries, further limiting legal migration pathways into the United States.
The countries affected span every region of the globe with countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East impacted the most.
The order, announced last week, does not affect processing for nonimmigrant visas such as those traveling temporarily. Nor does it revoke current immigrant visas.
The State Department said the purpose of the pause is to ensure that immigrants have been “vetted to the maximum degree” and to limit applications from those they deemed likely to rely on government assistance for their basic needs. Neither the State Department nor the Trump administration provided the number of immigrants from the affected countries that depend on public assistance.
Experts say the indefinite pause will turn away almost half of all legal immigrants over the next year. An analysis of visas issued over the last three years show that people from the countries affected account for 40 to 45 percent of all immigrant visas.
This indefinite pause is the latest effort to restrict legal pathways into the United States and comes one month after the Trump administration expanded its travel ban. Of the 39 countries where travel is banned or partially restricted, 24 are included in the suspension of visa processing.
Adam Taylor contributed to this report.
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