Trump administration pauses all immigrant visa applications amid new screening policy

The pause began in early August and is not expected to last beyond early to mid-September, according to a State Department official not authorized to speak publicly about the change.

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has trained much of its immigration crackdown on people who entered the United States illegally from Mexico and elsewhere, but it is intensifying another battle, this time with people who come legally.

The State Department has paused all immigrant visa applications while it briefs consular officials around the world on a new policy that aims to keep out people who are considered potential drains on public coffers.

The administration is also preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who applied for asylum, which The Associated Press first reported this week. It would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges.

“The thing linking them is a general philosophy that immigration is bad for the United States and that the Trump administration is looking for all of the ways it can to button down our immigration system to allow in fewer people,” said Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute.

The pause is related entirely to new rules about a “public charge” requirement that numerous consular officers in U.S. embassies around the world had questions about, according to a State Department official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.