US Freezes Immigrant Visas for 75 Countries in Major Escalation of Trump Crackdown

The United States will suspend immigrant visa processing for 75 countries, dramatically expanding President Donald Trump’s already sweeping crackdown on immigration and legal entry into the country.

The State Department announced on Wednesday that visa processing would be paused for countries “whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates”. The freeze, officials said, would remain in place until the administration is satisfied that new arrivals will not become a financial burden on the US.

“The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,” the department said, adding that the policy would affect “dozens of countries”, including Somalia, Haiti, Iran and Eritrea.

The move marks one of the most aggressive steps yet in Trump’s second-term immigration agenda. Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history and has steadily narrowed legal pathways into the country.

Over the past year, his administration has rolled back multiple visa programmes, sharply reduced refugee admissions, and deployed heavily armed immigration officers to major US cities to detain and deport people accused of being in the country illegally.

Earlier this week, the State Department said it had revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump returned to the White House, a one-year record. The Department of Homeland Security reported last month that more than 605,000 people have been deported, while another 2.5 million left the US voluntarily.

The government has not released a full list of the countries affected by the visa freeze. However, officials said the measure would cover a wide geographic range, with reports indicating that Brazil, Egypt, Thailand, Nigeria, Iraq and Yemen are among those expected to be impacted.

A State Department spokesperson said the suspension of immigrant visa processing will take effect on January 21. The restrictions will not apply to non-immigrant visas, such as those for temporary tourism or business travel.

Immigration analysts warn that the scale of the policy is unprecedented in modern US history. David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, said the Trump administration “has proven itself to have the most anti-legal immigration agenda in American history”.

“This action will ban nearly half of all legal immigrants to the United States, turning away about 315,000 legal immigrants over the next year alone,” Bier said.

For critics, the freeze signals a shift from border enforcement to a broader redefinition of who is allowed to immigrate at all. For supporters, it represents a long-promised effort to prioritise domestic economic interests.