Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 January 2026, 23:39 by Writer
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jan 14, CMC – Several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, excluding Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, are among 75 countries that the United States on Wednesday announced it was suspending the processing of immigrant visas.
Suriname is also not on the list.
The move by President Donald Trump is the latest move designed to prevent foreigners seeking to visit the North American country.
“The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
He said that the immigrant visa processing for the 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassesses immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.
The CARICOM countries named are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt posted on X that the countries affected would include Somalia as well as Russia and Iran.
She confirmed that other countries affected would include a number of countries with friendly relations with the United States.
Trump has made no secret of his desire to reduce immigration by people who are not of European descent and the State Department said on Monday that it has revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump’s return, a one-year record.
The Department of Homeland Security last month said that the Trump administration has deported more than 605,000 people, and that 2.5 million others left on their own.
The latest announcement by Washington does not affect tourist, business or other visas, including for soccer fans seeking to attend this year’s World Cup.
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