White House stops visas for Cape Verde, Brazil; claims 'welfare' drain – USA Today
The Trump administration will stop issuing immigration visas to residents of 75 countries, including Cape Verde and Brazil, on the grounds that migrants from those countries “take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.”
The State Department announced the move via social media, but provided only a partial list that also mentioned Haiti and Cuba. FOX News reported that the Bahamas, Moldova, Russia and many African countries were also covered.
State Department officials declined to provide the full list of countries and instead referred to the FOX News coverage.
“We are working to ensure the generosity of the American people will no longer be abused,” the State Department said in a statement. “The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people.”
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Massachusetts is the state with the highest population of Brazilian and Cape Verdean immigrants.
New Bedford in particular has connections to Cape Verde dating to the 19th century and the city’s whaling history, and is one of oldest and largest communities of Cape Verdeans in the country. The city is home to the Cape Verdean Association of New Bedford, and last year marked Cape Verdean Heritage Month to coincide with the country’s 50th anniversary of independence.
The move reflects a longstanding effort by Trump to limit who can legally enter the United States and become a permanent resident.
Since 1882, legal immigrants have had to meet public charge rules designed to ensure that they can support themselves via work, savings or a sponsor, without relying on programs like food stamps or welfare.
The pause announced Jan. 14 gives federal officials time to determine how to consider more factors in making their decisions, including applicants’ age, whether family members living in the United States already receive government benefits, or if the applicant had received federal assistance to care for their American citizen child.
In 2019, the Trump administration significantly expanded the list of programs covered by the public charge rule, which also affected immigrants already living in the United States seeking to become permanent residents or citizens. The changes might have blocked legal immigrants who had used Medicaid or federally funded childcare for their American citizen child from ever getting permanent residency.
Migration-rights groups say the visa pause will likely hurt American citizens living in mixed-status families, and note that use of taxpayer-funded services by immigrant families dropped even before Trump’s 2019 rule took effect.
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts called the decision “an economic, moral, and security failure.”
“This sweeping ban will separate countless families in Massachusetts and all across our nation from their loved ones. It will hurt universities and businesses in the Commonwealth that rely on students and employees coming to the United States to study and create businesses and jobs. It will diminish our standing as a beacon for immigrants from around the world. We cannot allow the Trump administration to write bigotry into U.S. immigration policy. I urge the State Department to reverse course and resume visa processing.”
Administration officials said the changes will officially take effect Jan. 21.
According to FOX, the full list of countries consists of: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
