The lives of hundreds of thousands of people were thrown into limbo after the Trump administration paused review of many visa, green card, work permit and citizenship applications for people born in 39 countries — including Nigeria, Myanmar and Venezuela. The restrictions follow a late-November shooting in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan national and were paired with broader travel bans the administration imposed on those countries.
Five months in, the pause has caused sudden financial insecurity, lost jobs and academic opportunities, and deep anxiety about the ability to live and work legally in the U.S. NPR spoke with more than a dozen people affected; most asked to be identified only by initials because they fear adverse consequences for their immigration cases.
Who is affected
The pause targets people born in the 39 designated countries. Some nations were included for alleged links to terrorism or poor cooperation with U.S. authorities; others were cited for high visa overstay rates. About half of the countries face partial restrictions that still allow limited travel under certain categories, but those exemptions generally do not help people already in the U.S. trying to renew status or work authorization.
The harm reaches beyond the immigrant community. U.S. citizens seeking green cards for foreign-born spouses face delays; employers in health care, oil and gas, technology and academia are losing workers; and sectors that rely on foreign-born talent may be harmed long-term. Foreign-born workers hold STEM jobs at slightly higher rates than U.S.-born workers, according to National Science Foundation data cited by advocates.
Real-world consequences
Stories from affected applicants are similar: stalled promotions, lost residency slots, unpaid bills and the inability to accept job offers while applications are frozen.
– A, from Myanmar, has led a cancer clinical research team in Ohio since 2016 and was poised for a promotion. Her work authorization renewal is paused. “It’s very disappointing to know that something I’ve been working really hard towards … is now going to be out of reach just because of where I was born,” she said.
– M, from Nigeria, matched to a surgery residency in Oregon but had her visa and work-permit processing frozen. Her permit had been pending for a month when matches were announced. “I cried so much the day after my match,” she said.
– P, who arrived in 2023 and holds a master’s in engineering, said he had to turn down multiple job offers because his work permit cannot be processed. “I barely can feed [myself]. I barely can pay bills,” he said.
Some applicants paid up to $3,000 for “premium processing,” which is supposed to speed decisions. Critics say those fees amounted to a windfall for the government while applications sat unprocessed. David Bier of the Cato Institute called the situation “a scam. It’s a fraud,” and estimates more than $1 billion in premium-processing fees have been collected.
Legal and policy defenses
The administration says the pause is necessary while officials update vetting and screening procedures. A Homeland Security official told NPR that verifying identities and personal histories from various countries requires a rigorous process that prioritizes American safety, and USCIS paused adjudications for nationals of the designated countries while enhanced screening is implemented.
Supporters of the policy say it sends a message that the U.S. will not treat its immigration system as an entitlement for “high-risk applicants” and those from countries that do not cooperate on travel and immigration matters. Brandy Perez Carbaugh of The Heritage Foundation framed the pauses as focused on security and preventing program abuse.
But the policy contrasts sharply with campaign rhetoric from President Trump, who in 2024 told Silicon Valley investors he favored automatically granting green cards to foreign students upon graduation. After returning to office, administration policy shifted toward restricting legal immigration and adding measures such as a proposed $100,000 fee for certain high-skilled visas.
Scope and litigation
The impact is broad. An NPR analysis found nearly 12 million applications awaiting a decision from USCIS, with about 247,000 not yet opened. Zachary New, an immigration attorney in Colorado representing more than 500 affected people, estimates roughly half of all USCIS applications are impacted by travel-ban-linked pauses, including spousal sponsorships, work permits and DACA renewals for people born in the designated countries.
There are at least 33 lawsuits challenging the pauses. In one preliminary injunction, a federal judge in Northern California ordered USCIS to decide by May 18 on applications from 31 Iranian citizens and one Sudanese citizen waiting on work authorizations. In that order, Judge Susan van Keulen noted government lawyers were making inconsistent arguments — both that USCIS has a duty to timely decide applications and that holds are indefinite.
Legal advocates warn that indefinite holds can cause people’s legal status to lapse entirely, exposing them to detention and deportation. Some applicants are preparing for worst-case scenarios: selling homes, splitting up families, returning to their home countries, or trying to extend student status to remain lawful while they wait.
U.S. citizens affected
U.S. citizens also suffer fallout when their foreign-born spouses’ petitions are frozen. Isaac Narvaez Gomez, a U.S. citizen from Venezuela, said paperwork to make his wife a permanent resident was put on hold; even after some holds lifted, interconnected forms remain stalled. The couple has been unable to fully start life together — from joint bank accounts to adding her to health insurance. “It’s been approximately five months and we have gotten no result,” he said.
Others with complex national histories say they and their families are caught out by a policy that sometimes fails to account for dual nationals, minorities persecuted at home, or people with long ties to the U.S. An assistant professor in North Carolina who was born in Iran, holds Canadian citizenship, and has lived in and out of the U.S. for more than a decade, said he and his wife face a green-card stop despite contributing to American higher education.
Broader enforcement shifts
Lawyers and advocates say the pause is part of a broader pivot under DHS toward interior enforcement and re-review of previously approved applications. In the past year, the department has pursued policies to strip permission to be in the U.S., re-examine approvals, and slow naturalizations — steps that increase the risk of deportation for people already inside the country.
Zachary New said he counsels clients to preserve savings and consider contingency plans. He’s advised some to pursue additional degrees to extend student visas and counseled others about family separation. “These are all people who are trying to do things the right way. So by suddenly not having an option for doing things the right way, folks are kind of panicking,” he said. “People are losing jobs. People are losing placement and medical residency. People are losing status. And those things are not something that just goes away by processing starting again.”
Outlook
The pause remains legally contested and administratively shifting. DHS and USCIS assert the measures are temporary and necessary for enhanced vetting; opponents argue the holds are indefinite in practice and cause immediate, severe harm to individuals and employers. With millions of pending applications in the system, the consequences of the pause reach far beyond those born in the designated countries — touching families, employers, universities and communities across the United States.