![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2256103700.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Several Asian countries are hit by the Trump Administration\u2019s decision to pause immigrant processing for 75 countries, including the Southeast Asian nations of Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The suspension, which will take effect on Jan. 21, is the first time the U.S. is restricting applicants from Cambodia and Thailand, just months after U.S. President Donald Trump inked trade deals with both nations on the sidelines of the 2025 ASEAN Summit. He had assured Southeast Asian leaders at the event that they could view the U.S. as a \u201cstrong partner and friend\u201d in the years to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The suspension covers several other countries elsewhere in Asia, including the South Asian nations of Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as countries in Central Asia and the Middle East. The suspension only covers immigrant visas; non-immigrant visas, like tourist and business visas, are not affected. (The U.S. is set to host the FIFA World Cup this year).<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump has made clear that immigrants must be financially self-sufficient and not be a financial burden to Americans,\u201d the U.S. State Department wrote in a post on Jan. 14. It continued that it was starting a \u201cfull 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.\u201d The post made clear that while nationals in the affected countries could submit applications, no visas would be issued during the suspension.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the transactional nature of the U.S. dealings with other countries, these pauses can be seen as another way for the U.S. to coerce countries to strike deals that they otherwise would not be keen to do,\u201d suggests Nona Pepito, an associate professor of economics at Singapore Management University.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s engagement with Southeast Asia has remained mostly focused on trade, though the U.S. President also tried to negotiate a ceasefire to the violent border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ceasefire ultimately fell apart, and the two countries began fighting again in late December; both now operate under another, China-facilitated, ceasefire. Last week, the U.S. offered $45 million in aid to both countries to help maintain the truce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Laos is already subject to a full travel ban. Cambodia has also previously been in the Trump Administration\u2019s cross-hairs, appearing in a leaked State Department memo last July that noted \u201cconcerns\u201d with the Southeast Asian country\u2019s migration policies, though it wasn\u2019t included in later travel restrictions.<\/p>\n
Before this suspension, Thailand had yet to be targeted by U.S. immigration policies. A ban could risk \u201cpushing the Thai government and its people closer to China,\u201d Pepito warns. \u201cIf the U.S. is seen as an unreliable partner, Thailand, a key treaty ally, may look elsewhere for security and economic cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thailand\u2019s addition is \u201cpuzzling,\u201d says Tan Sook Rei, a senior lecturer at Singapore\u2019s James Cook University (JCU), who points out that both the Philippines and Vietnam\u2014which rank among the top sources of U.S. immigrant visas\u2014are \u201cnotably absent\u201d from the visa suspension list. \u201cThe policy appears less focused on managing migration volumes than on political signaling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacob Wood, an associate professor of economics at JCU, points to allegations by U.S. officials that Thai businesses have been issuing fake certificates of origin to support China\u2019s \u201ctariff-washing\u201d practices as a source of tension between Washington and Bangkok.<\/p>\n
Trump has launched a sweeping crackdown on immigration since taking office a year ago. Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in what it called \u201chistoric progress in securing the homeland,\u201d claimed that over 2.5 million \u201cillegal aliens\u201d had left the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The U.S. is also tightening pathways for legal migration to the country. Trump suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which provided a safe haven for individuals overseas of \u201cspecial humanitarian concern.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Moreover, the president has increased vetting for international students trying to attend school in the U.S. The number of new international students starting at a U.S. college or university in fall 2025 fell by 17%, according to the Institute of International Education.<\/p>\n
The U.S. has also hiked fees for H-1B employment visas, often used by high-skilled labor in sectors like tech, to $100,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Trumps #visa #crackdown #hits #SEAs #Cambodia #Thailand #decision #experts #find #puzzling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Several Asian countries are hi… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[9098,1999,1037,486,804,44,3462,2049,2975,9099,9097,3072,496,8924],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}