The United States will indefinitely halt visa proceedings for citizens of more than 75 nations, including Somalia, Haiti and Iran, in the latest immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.

The state department said immigrants from the countries affected by the suspension announced on January 14 “often become public charges on the United States upon arrival”.

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The freeze begins on January 21 and will remain active “until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people”. The order does not affect applicants seeking non-immigrant, tourist or business visas. Those who are permanent residents or already have visas are also exempt from the restrictions.

Aerial view of tourists on Junkanoo Beach with cruise ships in the distance, Nassau, Bahamas.

The Bahamas is on the list of 75 affected countries

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“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,” a statement by the state department read. “Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the state department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”

President Trump first said over the summer that citizens from 12 countries would be banned from entering the US, continuing travel restrictions that he implemented during his first term in office.

A woman in a pink coat with a fur-lined hood plays with snow in front of St. Basil's Cathedral.

St Basil’s Cathedral in Russia

TATYANA MAKEYEVA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The state department then issued travel restrictions for a total of 20 countries and people with Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents after an Afghan national allegedly killed two members of the National Guard in Washington DC in November.

At the time, critics said the administration was using national security concerns as an excuse to tighten already rigid immigration standards and prevent people from lawfully travelling to the US.

There have been more than 605,000 deportations and 1.9 million self-deportations since Trump took office last year, according to December data from the department of homeland security.

Vintage green taxi in front of Hotel Inglaterra in Havana, Cuba.

The countries impacted by the latest travel ban are:

• Yemen
• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Bahamas
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belize
• Bhutan
• Bosnia
• Brazil
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• Colombia
• Congo
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Egypt
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Fiji
• Gambia
• Georgia
• Ghana
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guinea
• Haiti
• Iran
• Iraq
• Ivory Coast
• Jamaica
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kosovo
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Liberia
• Libya
• Macedonia
• Moldova
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• Myanmar
• 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