Civil, Immigrants’ Rights Leaders Speak Out Against Trump Admin.’s Sweeping Indefinite Suspension of Immigrant Visa Processing from 75 Countries 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
January 21, 2026 

CONTACT 
National Immigration Law Center: Juan Gastelum, [email protected], 213-375-3149
Democracy Forward: [email protected]
Western Center on Law & Poverty: Maria Sundeen, [email protected], 323-333-5439 

Civil, Immigrants’ Rights Leaders Speak Out Against Trump Admin.’s Sweeping Indefinite Suspension of Immigrant Visa Processing from 75 Countries 

WASHINGTON — As the Trump administration’s suspension on immigrant visa processing of people from 75 countries is set to go into effect, leaders with the National Immigration Law Center, Democracy Forward, and the Western Center on Law & Poverty decried the move as an unprecedented action that will separate families, undermine U.S. economic interests, and unlawfully restrict long‑standing pathways to lawful immigration. The Trump administration cited “public charge” risk as its stated justification for the suspension. 

Joanna Cuevas Ingram, Senior Staff Attorney at the National Immigration Law Center said: “This unprecedented and illegal halt on immigrant visas from 75 countries slams the door on people who have done everything the United States has asked of them to come here. The Trump administration is using this blanket visa suspension as a ban and a false pretense to further spread a hateful narrative that demonizes immigrants and people of color. The ban tears families apart, undermines employers, and destabilizes communities. We know immigrants enrich our communities, and we are prepared to challenge this discriminatory ban and defend the rights of immigrant families with everything we have.” 

“This administration’s targeting of people based on their national origin is part of an autocratic playbook designed to make America smaller – to shut out ideas, perspectives, and communities. This latest halt on immigrant visas from 75 countries is yet another attempt to rewrite our nation’s history – a nation that is a land of immigrants – and undercut our cherished values while closing us off from the world. Over the past year, more than 600 lawsuits have been filed against the harmful lawlessness of the Trump-Vance administration’s agenda – and the administration loses far more than it wins. We will again file suit to challenge this harmful and arbitrary policy that turns its back on the Statue of Liberty and, worse, people and communities,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. 

Western Center on Law & Poverty’s Executive Director Cori Racela denounces the Trump Administration’s expansion of the ‘public charge’ designation as unlawful discrimination. “Claiming that immigrants from these nations disproportionately rely on public benefits is a pretext rooted in racist stereotypes. In fact, immigrant families are less likely to access public assistance and more likely to work and pay taxes to a system from which they often draw no benefits at all. We reject the baseless presumption that people from 75 countries are necessarily a ‘public charge’ or a burden. We are ready to fight for these families against this unlawful discrimination and the Administration’s racist agenda.”   

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