The Donald Trump administration has announced that it will suspend immigrant visa approvals for applicants from 75 countries across Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, South Asia, and the Balkans.
For the past year, Trump has been issuing isolationist policies against allies and countries he has never spoken positively about alike. According to the State Department, there will be no suspension end date any time soon. People from the affected countries will still be able to submit visa applications, but they will not be approved or issued.
The people affected from these countries are those attempting to make their move to the US permanent. This comes as, later this summer, a FIFA World Cup tournament will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The inflow of tourists will coincide with Trump’s controversial mass deportation drive.
The full list of the countries banned is:
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Antigua and Barbuda
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Bhutan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Myanmar
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Colombia
Côte d’Ivoire
Cuba
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Dominica
Egypt
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Fiji
The Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Haiti
Iran
Iraq
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Lebanon
Liberia
Libya
North Macedonia
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Nepal
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Pakistan
Republic of the Congo
Russia
Rwanda
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Sudan
Sudan
Syria
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Yemen
This list includes major non-NATO allies like Egypt and Morocco, so it’s safe to assume that it may grow even further. Immediately after Trump was inaugurated in Jan. 2025, he issued a statement saying the US cannot continue taking in immigrants — legally or otherwise — because they create security concerns, have difficulty integrating, and place pressure on public resources.
In June, the administration issued its first full travel ban list, which featured 12 countries, but that list has since grown both in form and in number. Another precaution the Trump administration has taken on immigration includes the removal of Somalia and other countries in Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean from the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which gives their nationals refuge until their home countries are considered hospitable again.
The number of refugees the US will legally admit in 2026 has also been capped at 7,500. Most of these slots are expected to be extended to Afrikaners from South Africa, whom the Trump administration has claimed are being subjected to a “white genocide” in their home country. The conspiracy theory has been repeatedly debunked by multiple news outlets, and evidence Trump brought into the White House was later found to be from another country entirely.
In Dec. 2025, the Trump administration released figures revealing that, through its efforts, it had deported 605,000 people, while an additional 1.9 million had “self-deported.” The methods being used remain a cause for concern and controversy, with critics pointing to instances of racial profiling and violence by federal agents.
Published: Jan 16, 2026 03:19 pm