Immigration & Federal Policy

The U.S. State Department will suspend processing of immigrant visas from 75 countries beginning Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, saying the move is intended to prevent entry of people who would “take welfare and public benefits” and to end “abuse of America’s immigration system.” The freeze applies only to immigrant visas (non‑immigrant tourist and business visas are exempt and expected to surge ahead of the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics) and affects countries including Somalia, Iran, Russia, Nigeria and Brazil, with Somalia’s inclusion explicitly linked in administration messaging to Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future–related benefit fraud scandals.

The State Department has ordered an indefinite pause on visa processing for applicants from 75 countries — including Somalia, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand and Yemen — starting Jan. 21 while it rewrites how consular officers apply the 'public charge' test, according to a memo first obtained by Fox News. During the pause, officers are directed to refuse visas under existing law to anyone deemed likely to rely on public benefits, using a significantly broadened set of factors that now includes age, health, English proficiency, finances, potential long‑term medical needs and any past use of cash assistance or institutional care; older or overweight applicants and those who ever received certain government aid could be denied. The move resurrects and hardens a Trump‑era expansion of the public‑charge rule that the Biden administration had rolled back in 2022, and comes as the Trump administration openly links Somali migration scrutiny to large Minnesota‑based fraud cases like Feeding Our Future, despite those prosecutions already moving forward in court. For Twin Cities families, especially in Minneapolis and St. Paul’s Somali, Iranian, Russian and Nigerian communities that routinely sponsor relatives and business visitors, this effectively slams the door on most new visas from those countries and signals a far more aggressive posture by consular officers that goes well beyond traditional bars on destitute applicants. Immigration lawyers are already warning that the vague standards invite arbitrary denials and could strand even well‑resourced applicants, and advocacy groups with large Minnesota footprints are expected to challenge the policy in court.