The U.S. State Department will indefinitely ban immigrant visas for 75 different countries, it was announced this week.
This pause comes as part of the Trump administration’s effort to block low-income foreigners from immigrating to the U.S. permanently, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The pause on immigration will start Jan. 21 and will only affect individuals seeking to immigrate permanently for work, marriage or other family ties. Those seeking temporary visas for school or vacation will be unaffected by the ban.
Brazil, Russia, Afghanistan and Colombia will be included in the ban, as well as other countries in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
According to The Wall Street Journal, this ban is a major expansion of the 39 countries who had partial or total bans as of Jan. 1.
At the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, he implemented a ban that he said was aimed at preventing terrorists from entering the country. Now, the bans have shifted to stopping immigration from what Trump calls “third-world countries.”
Immigrants seeking permanent visas may be denied due to varying factors, such as health, age, English proficiency, finances and potential need for long-term medical care, according to Fox News.
This ban comes five months before the World Cup is set to be hosted in North America. Since the ban will have no impact on tourism, foreigners seeking to attend the World Cup in the U.S. shouldn’t experience any added difficulty in obtaining a visa due to the new ban, CNN reported.
United Nations diplomat Mohamad Safa is among those calling for a boycott of the World Cup, which will take place from June 11 to July 19, claiming the U.S. is “not safe to visit.” Following the announcement of the visa ban, Safa shared a post on X listing all 75 countries banned from receiving visas, and claimed that the issue isn’t that the U.S. is afraid of immigrants entering its country, but rather that people are afraid of entering the U.S.
“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,” State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
“The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people. Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassesses immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”