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ADC Condemns New Visa Freeze Using ‘Public Charge’ Criteria to Deny Entry and Separate Families
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) on Jan. 14, 2026 strongly condemns the State Department’s action freezing visa processing for nationals from 75 countries under an expanded and deeply troubling interpretation of the “public charge” doctrine.
Unlike prior travel bans that relied on overt nationality-based exclusions, this policy weaponizes economic status, health, age, disability, and other personal characteristics to justify widespread visa denials and indefinite processing freezes.
Under the new guidance, consular officers are instructed to deny visas based on speculative assessments of whether an individual might rely on public benefits in the future—including considerations such as health conditions, English proficiency, age, weight, or a potential need for long-term medical care.
This approach represents a dangerous escalation.
It replaces even the pretense of individualized adjudication with vague, discretionary standards that invite bias, discrimination, and arbitrary decision-making—while disproportionately impacting immigrants from the Global South, including Arab, African, Muslim, and other historically targeted communities.
By framing this mass freeze as a temporary “reassessment” of immigration procedures, the administration has effectively created an indefinite pause on family reunification, employment-based immigration, and lawful pathways to permanent residence for millions of people—without congressional authorization, clear timelines, or meaningful oversight.
ADC rejects the false premise underlying this policy: that immigrants are a burden rather than contributors and that denying entry based on income, health, or age makes the United States safer. These measures do nothing to enhance security. Instead, they institutionalize discrimination, separate families, and erode long-standing civil and human rights protections.
In light of these restrictive measures, we call on the State Department to immediately implement a robust, transparent, and functional waiver process—one that is accessible in practice, adjudicated promptly, and explicitly designed to keep families together. A waiver system that exists only on paper or that depends on unchecked consular discretion is unacceptable.
Family unity and due process are fundamental rights. ADC will continue to challenge discriminatory immigration policies and advocate for a system rooted in dignity, fairness, and equal protection under the law.
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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