Trump State Department Pauses Immigrant Visas For Nationals Of 75 Countries To Protect Welfare Programs Most Of Them Are Already Barred From Using

WASHINGTON. Citing an urgent need to shield federal benefit programs from people legally forbidden from receiving them, the State Department on Tuesday paused immigrant visa processing for nationals of 75 countries, resolving a long-standing concern that foreigners who had been vetted, sponsored, and barred from most welfare for five years might nonetheless find a way to drain the American treasury.

The freeze, which covers immigrant visa applicants from nations including Afghanistan, Brazil, Egypt, and Somalia, will remain in effect until the government can guarantee that arriving immigrants "will not extract wealth from the American people," according to the department. Officials clarified that the pause does not apply to tourists, who remain free to extract wealth from the American people on a temporary basis.

"The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates," the department announced, declining to specify the rate at which welfare usage becomes acceptable. Under federal law, most new lawful permanent residents are already ineligible for programs such as Medicaid and food stamps for their first five years in the country, and immigrant visa applicants must already prove they have a financial sponsor and will not become a public charge.

A source within the administration described the policy as a careful, evidence-based response to a problem the source was confident existed. "We looked at the numbers, and the numbers were unacceptable," the official said, adding that the department would continue scheduling visa interviews for applicants whose visas it had no current intention of issuing.

The pause spares the United States the risk of admitting the doctors, engineers, spouses of citizens, and Afghan interpreters who assisted American forces, all of whom had completed years of screening before the country they came from was added to the list. Civil rights attorneys filed suit within days, arguing that suspending an entire category of immigration in continent-sized batches exceeded the president's authority, a concern the administration has signaled it will resolve by ignoring.

At press time, the State Department had confirmed that the freeze would lift the instant officials could prove a negative about millions of people they had declined to interview.