Reps. Ritchie Torres and Yvette Clarke Led 73 Democrats in Condemning the Trump Admin’s Unilateral Visa Pause for 75 Nations

Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (NY-09) led 73 of their colleagues in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem condemning the Trump Administration’s unilateral decision to pause issuing all immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries and demanding transparency, data, and legal justification for the policy.

In the letter, the lawmakers warn that the sweeping pause will separate families, harm U.S. citizens with relatives abroad, undermine small businesses and faith communities, and block hundreds of thousands of people from pursuing lawful pathways to citizenship. They note that the affected countries accounted for roughly 40 to 45 percent of all immigrant visas issued in recent years, meaning the policy effectively shuts the door on nearly half of legal immigrants.

The lawmakers request detailed information from the Departments of State and Homeland Security, including the evidentiary basis for the policy, its legal justification, whether a cost-benefit analysis was conducted, and when the so-called policy review will be completed.

“By unilaterally halting immigrant visa processing for 75 countries, the Administration has chosen chaos, cruelty, and discrimination over transparency and the rule of law,” said Rep. Clarke and Rep. Torres. “This sweeping pause is tearing families apart, destabilizing communities, and shutting the door on lawful immigrants who have followed every rule and waited years to reunite with loved ones or contribute to our economy. Announcing a policy of this magnitude by tweet, without data, legal justification, or a clear end date, is unacceptable. We are demanding answers and calling on the Administration to immediately reverse this policy and restore lawful, orderly visa processing.”

Reps. Torres and Clarke were joined on the letter by Reps. Gabe Amo (RI-01), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44), Wesley Bell (MO-01), Shontel Brown (OH-11), André Carson (IN-07), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sean Casten (IL-06), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jim Costa (CA-21), Danny Davis (IL-07), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Al Green (TX-09), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Pablo José Hernández (PR-AL), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), George Latimer (NY-16), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Sarah McBride (DE-AL), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Grace Meng (NY-06), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Jerry Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Luz Rivas (CA-29), David Scott (GA-13), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Darren Soto (FL-09), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Eugene Vindman (VA-07), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).

The letter has also drawn strong support from immigrant rights and advocacy organizations.

“The visa processing pause has put many lives on hold, keeping families apart and leaving people who have waited for years and completed lengthy vetting processes in painful uncertainty,” said Nils Kinuani, Federal Policy Manager for African Communities Together. “This policy undermines family unity and community stability, yet the Administration has offered no data or legal rationale to justify it. We urge the Administration to reverse course and resume visa processing without delay.”

“Pausing immigrant visa issuance for 75 countries, nearly 40 percent of the world, will cause terrible harm to families, employers, and communities across the U.S.,” said Todd Schulte, President and Executive Director of FWD.us. “The Administration’s efforts weaken the U.S. economy, worsen workforce shortages, separate families, and undermine America’s global leadership and the best of what this country should be. There needs to be an immediate reversal of these visa halts and lawful immigration pathways must be restored. We are very thankful for this letter, which we strongly support.”

“This ban is yet another example of the Trump Administration targeting people of color and is reminiscent of the racially discriminatory immigration laws we had in place a century ago,” said John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian American Advancing Justice. “Barring nearly half of all immigrants, including the spouses and children of U.S. citizens, from entering this country is discriminatory. We thank Rep. Clarke and Rep. Torres for leading this letter calling for transparency from this Administration and for calling out the discriminatory nature of this new policy.”

The letter reads as follows:

“We write to strongly condemn your unilateral move to pause issuing all immigrant visas for 75 countries. This is an outrageous, and discriminatory policy decision by your Administration impacting nearly 40% of all countries. It is also stunning that such a drastic policy change impacting hundreds of thousands of people a year would be announced not only by tweet, but also without offering any meaningful information about the “pause.” As listed by the State Department, the countries impacted include:

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, North 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.

“Because the policy applies to all immigrant visas, it affects immediate relatives of U.S citizens as well as all family-sponsored visas, employer-sponsored, religious workers, diversity, and returning residents visas. According to the State Department, these 75 countries had accounted for approximately 243,671 immigrant visas in FY23, 280,015 in FY24, and 189,583 from October through May of FY25. Experts say the indefinite pause will turn away almost half of all legal immigrants over the next year. An analysis of visas issued over the last three years show people from the countries affected account for 40 to 45 percent of all immigrant visas.

“Our Congressional Districts represent individuals from all the countries listed by the State Department’s announcement. This discriminatory policy will have a devastating impact on our constituents. It will separate families and prevent them from uniting, block individuals from pursuing the American Dream, stifle small business growth, and undermine faith- based organizations’ ability to build and sustain their communities. In short, this policy is backwards, antiquated and does significantly more harm than good.

“As such we request you provide the following information no later than February 20, 2026:

1. The State Department has claimed that “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.” As such, does the Administration have the data to back up this claim to justify this policy?
2. What is the legal justification for the Department’s action?
3. According to the Department of State, this pause is necessary to ensure that immigrants from these countries do not become a public charge. Public charge has long been an inadmissibility ground under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the agencies – Department of State and Department of Homeland Security – know how to conduct individualized assessments of applicants to determine whether they are likely to become a public charge. Why does the Administration now need a blanket pause on all applicants?
4. Considering you believe this policy will save Americans money, even though our country benefits from net migration, have your Departments conducted a cost-benefit analysis of this policy? If so, we ask that you submit the analysis to Congress.
5. The State Department’s announcement states that it “is undergoing a full review of all policies, regulations, and guidance to ensure that immigrants from these high-risk countries do not utilize welfare in the United States or become a public charge.” When does the Department believe this “review” will be completed, and if there will be additional exemptions added to this policy.

“We are all deeply disturbed by this policy decision, and strongly encourage you to reverse the policy.”