The US announced on Wednesday that it is suspending processing for immigrant visa applications in 75 countries.
Those countries are home to 2.5 billion people, around a third of the planet. They have a combined GNI of $9.9 trillion. Given migration flows are associated with greater entrepreneurship in destination countries and stronger trade and investment flows with origin countries, that’s a significant loss to future American prosperity.
Nearly 14 million people in the US today—about 4 percent of the US population—were born in countries on the list. A number of listed countries have populations deeply entwined with the US. For nine Caribbean states, the US population born in those countries is equal to 10 percent or more of the domestic population—for Dominica the ratio is 40 percent. The 888,000 Jamaican-born people in the US compares to the 2.8 million people living in Jamaica.
These migrants are running businesses, nursing, teaching, researching, farming, constructing. And they’re sending about $45 billion in remittances back home, paying for health care and education and supporting investment.
More than half of the country list is made up of low and lower-middle income countries that most need the opportunities presented by global connections. These are the places where individual workers see the greatest gains from moving to a more productive economy. And for some of the countries on the list, migration links with the US are a vital source of income. Guatemala, Jamaica, and Haiti all see remittances from the US worth 10 percent of GNI or more. Thirteen countries see remittances worth more than 2 percent of GNI.
The ban’s effects will encompass families split apart, jobs opportunities lost, businesses unfounded, and trade and investment deals unsigned. Fewer kids will go to school, others will get sick. Millions of opportunities will pass by, mostly unregistered. It is a sign of the power of the US executive branch how much harm can be done at the stroke of a pen.
Data sources: income group, population and GNI, remittances, foreign-born population.
Top Ten Banned Countries by Remittances/GNI
| Country | Remittances from US ($M) | % of GNI |
|---|
| Guatemala | $14,078.19 | 13.74% |
| Jamaica | $2,709.91 | 12.83% |
| Haiti | $2,065.03 | 10.40% |
| The Gambia | $160.47 | 6.82% |
| Liberia | $221.51 | 5.38% |
| Nicaragua | $909.40 | 5.35% |
| Lebanon | $1,001.57 | 5.05% |
| Dominica | $27.95 | 4.24% |
| Belize | $115.72 | 3.93% |
| Grenada | $37.77 | 3.15% |
