The United States has halted immigration applications from citizens of 19 countries — including Myanmar — in a sweeping escalation of its migration crackdown, leaving thousands facing sudden uncertainty.

 

The decision, outlined in a memo from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), pauses both green card and citizenship processing for nationals of countries already under travel restrictions introduced in June. Myanmar appears on a list that also includes Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Venezuela and Somalia.

 

US officials had warned for days that tougher measures were imminent, a shift accelerated by last week’s shooting of two National Guard soldiers. The suspect — an Afghan evacuee who arrived during the 2021 withdrawal — has pleaded not guilty to murder charges. The memo cites the case as evidence of what it calls failures in “screening” and “vetting”.

 

For Myanmar nationals, many of whom have sought long‑term stability in the US amid ongoing conflict and political repression at home, the freeze represents a significant setback. Immigration lawyers say even applicants who have passed all required exams are now being told their cases are on hold.

 

The USCIS directive also promises a “comprehensive re‑review” of anyone from the 19 countries who entered the US after January 2021, raising the prospect of renewed scrutiny for thousands who believed their status was secure.

 

President Donald Trump has signalled he intends to go further, saying he plans to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” as part of a broader overhaul of the system. Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem has publicly urged an expansion of the restricted‑country list, though she has not specified which nations might be added.

 

Myanmar has been subject to US travel restrictions for months, grouped with countries such as Libya, Iran, Eritrea and Turkmenistan. The latest move effectively shuts down legal immigration pathways for its citizens, at least temporarily, and leaves many in bureaucratic limbo.

 

The announcement has already sparked political tension in parts of the US. Reports of a planned enforcement operation targeting Somali immigrants in Minnesota prompted local leaders to insist they would not assist federal authorities, underscoring the widening divide over immigration policy.

 

For Myanmar nationals waiting on life‑changing decisions, the message from Washington is clear: the pause may be temporary, but the uncertainty is immediate.

-2025-12-06

Might be the time that the Statue of Liberty be removed.

17 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Might be the time that the Statue of Liberty be removed.

 

Why?  The Statue of Liberty was given to the USA  to recognize the US Centennial of 1876. Added on to the commemoration was an appreciation of the USA's abolition of slavery, and its commitment to democracy. It was not a celebration of uncontrolled immigration.

If your comment is an attempt to be clever and to suggest that the USA is no longer a democracy, then you do not know your history. The USA of 1876 did not have full voter emancipation: Native Americans and Women did not have the vote. Chinese people saw their right to become citizens removed in1882 and the rights of Asians were not fully restored until the 1950's. Free speech guarantees, desegregation of schooling, Miranda rights, and access to legal counsel rights were only extended  in the mid 20th century.

 

On 12/8/2025 at 11:03 AM, Patong2021 said:

 

Why?  The Statue of Liberty was given to the USA  to recognize the US Centennial of 1876. Added on to the commemoration was an appreciation of the USA's abolition of slavery, and its commitment to democracy. It was not a celebration of uncontrolled immigration.

If your comment is an attempt to be clever and to suggest that the USA is no longer a democracy, then you do not know your history. The USA of 1876 did not have full voter emancipation: Native Americans and Women did not have the vote. Chinese people saw their right to become citizens removed in1882 and the rights of Asians were not fully restored until the 1950's. Free speech guarantees, desegregation of schooling, Miranda rights, and access to legal counsel rights were only extended  in the mid 20th century.

 

 

You may be failing to recognise the difference between genuine refugees whose lives are endangered (most, but not all, of those coming from Burma) and economic migrants masquerading as refugees, who are seeking a better life.

 

Nothing wrong with economic immigrants.  The fault lies with the authorities who allow them to enter in numbers in excess of what is complementary to the needs of the destination country, in terms of skills and abilities.

 

Wealth discrepancies between different parts of the world have greatly increased the number of economic migrants in recent years.

This has much to do with the actions of western governments in the military and economic spheres.

 

Where an economy has been reduced to ground-zero as in some Middle Eastern countries where civilian infrastructure has been deliberately destroyed, there is social collapse, mortality rates soar, and it becomes difficult to distinguish between refugee and economic migrant.

The longer term answer is to help rebuild the destroyed economy.  By investment at grass-roots levels, rather than mere extraction of valuable resources.

10 hours ago, ericbj said:

 

You may be failing to recognise the difference between genuine refugees whose lives are endangered (most, but not all, of those coming from Burma) and economic migrants masquerading as refugees, who are seeking a better life.

 

Nothing wrong with economic immigrants.  The fault lies with the authorities who allow them to enter in numbers in excess of what is complementary to the needs of the destination country, in terms of skills and abilities.

 

Wealth discrepancies between different parts of the world have greatly increased the number of economic migrants in recent years.

This has much to do with the actions of western governments in the military and economic spheres.

 

Where an economy has been reduced to ground-zero as in some Middle Eastern countries where civilian infrastructure has been deliberately destroyed, there is social collapse, mortality rates soar, and it becomes difficult to distinguish between refugee and economic migrant.

The longer term answer is to help rebuild the destroyed economy.  By investment at grass-roots levels, rather than mere extraction of valuable resources.

 

Wonderful display of virtue signaling and demonstrating moral principle. However, it is neither germane nor relevant to the the US decision which was based on national security reasons. It is difficult if not impossible to verify the identities and backgrounds of Myanmar visa applicants. Myanmar does not share data with the USA and even when data is available from Myanmar, it is not reliable. As such, the USA is unable to verify if the visa applicant has a history of crime, for example is a rapist or financial scammer. Nor is it possible to determine that the visa applicant is not a member of a listed terrorist group or affiliated with a drug trafficking organization. Background checks and normal vetting of visitors and visa applicants from Myanmar cannot be completed at this time. 

You offer a politically infused polemic on western obligations with unrelated references to Middle Eastern infrastructure, and alleged extraction of resources. The USA has no involvement in Myanmar. It does not support the military junta, which is aligned with China and to a lesser extent, Russia. The USA has had no involvement in the lawless violent state that Myanmar has become, although the USA has contributed to humanitarian relief measures. 

 

Why then do you expect the USA to open its doors to visitors and visa applicants from Myanmar? You offer no solution to the inability of the USA to protect itself from the entry of violent criminals or people who will  present a financial and security burden. Take it up with your humanitarian leaders in China, India  and the wealthy Gulf Arab states. Ask Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos to take in more  of the people It is their region and the Myanmar people will be more comfortable in the region.

No wonder all those indian IT software geniuses and doctors are slowly packing up and going back to their homelands where they flourish in private ventures and maybe are better respected then in USA that has been a disaster since the past few decades, even before Trump came to office. 

13 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

. It is difficult if not impossible to verify the identities and backgrounds of Myanmar visa applicants. Myanmar does not share data with the USA and even when data is available from Myanmar, it is not reliable.

 

No suggestion was made that the U.S. Government should seek approval from the illegal military dictatorship, which would of course want denial of admission to those fleeing its massacres, and acceptance of its own hired agents.

 

One has to admit that the Trump administration might feel tempted to curry favour with the regime by doing just that; in view of its approval of the forthcoming bogus elections, and other tell-tale signs.

 

There are organs of government with greater claims of public support, such as the N.U.G., the K.N.U., etc.

 

Of course if the U.S. Government is seeking recognition by M.A.H.'s regime it will not wish to be seen associating with those promoting a federal democratic Burma.  That should be self-evident.

15 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

Why then do you expect the USA to open its doors to visitors and visa applicants from Myanmar? You offer no solution to the inability of the USA to protect itself from the entry of violent criminals or people who will  present a financial and security burden

 

Have not heard of people from Burma endangering America !

 

The United States did not sign the Refugee Convention of 1951, signed by most nations although many of them decades later. But did sign the Protocol in 1968, choosing to decline to accept Article 1 of the Convention, which, somewhat critically, defines what constitutes a 'refugee'.

 

A few nations mainly in S.E.Asia, such as Thailand, Laos, Burma, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia never signed either document and so  are not bound by the Convention. (Cambodia and the Philippines did sign)

 

See also:
https://universityfinance.richmond.edu/payroll/international/refugee-asylee.html

 

 

10 hours ago, ericbj said:

 

Have not heard of people from Burma endangering America !

 

The United States did not sign the Refugee Convention of 1951, signed by most nations although many of them decades later. But did sign the Protocol in 1968, choosing to decline to accept Article 1 of the Convention, which, somewhat critically, defines what constitutes a 'refugee'.

 

A few nations mainly in S.E.Asia, such as Thailand, Laos, Burma, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia never signed either document and so  are not bound by the Convention. (Cambodia and the Philippines did sign)

 

See also:
https://universityfinance.richmond.edu/payroll/international/refugee-asylee.html

 

 

All very nice words, but you have not addressed the reason why the USA  suspended the processing of Myanmar visas. The USA has no reasonable means of screening Myanmar nationals. What's your solution?

 

Because you have "not heard of people from Burma endangering America" does not mean that a risk does not exist. Your position holds that there are no drug traffickers, murderers, rapists etc. in Myanmar.  The USA has stopped multiple plots to assassinate Myanmar officials in  the USA. The most notable was the  criminal case of 2022 which  involved 2 citizens of Myanmar residing in New York who communicated with an arms dealer in Thailand who sells weapons to the Burmese military, which overthrew Myanmar’s civilian government in or about February 2021.  In the course of those conversations, the accused and the Arms Dealer agreed on a plan in which the accused would hire attackers to hurt the Ambassador in an attempt to force the Ambassador to step down from his post.  If the Ambassador did not step down, then the Arms Dealer proposed that the attackers hired by the accused  would kill the Ambassador.  The Myanmar regime has attempted to obtain arms and to launder funds through the USA.

 

The Myanmar junta and its opponents all have tried to use the USA  to obtain support for their goals.  There is a vast organized crime organization operating in Myanmar. That is why the USA last November applied sanctions aimed at scam networks associated with the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and four of its leaders, as well as entities and an individual linked to Chinese organized crime. The USA currently has no way of determining if visa applicants are linked to sanctioned entities.

 

What's your solution, other than waving people in?

 

 

9 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

 

 

All very nice words, but you have not addressed the reason why the USA  suspended the processing of Myanmar visas. The USA has no reasonable means of screening Myanmar nationals. What's your solution?

 

Because you have "not heard of people from Burma endangering America" does not mean that a risk does not exist. Your position holds that there are no drug traffickers, murderers, rapists etc. in Myanmar.  The USA has stopped multiple plots to assassinate Myanmar officials in  the USA. The most notable was the  criminal case of 2022 which  involved 2 citizens of Myanmar residing in New York who communicated with an arms dealer in Thailand who sells weapons to the Burmese military, which overthrew Myanmar’s civilian government in or about February 2021.  In the course of those conversations, the accused and the Arms Dealer agreed on a plan in which the accused would hire attackers to hurt the Ambassador in an attempt to force the Ambassador to step down from his post.  If the Ambassador did not step down, then the Arms Dealer proposed that the attackers hired by the accused  would kill the Ambassador.  The Myanmar regime has attempted to obtain arms and to launder funds through the USA.

 

The Myanmar junta and its opponents all have tried to use the USA  to obtain support for their goals.  There is a vast organized crime organization operating in Myanmar. That is why the USA last November applied sanctions aimed at scam networks associated with the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army and four of its leaders, as well as entities and an individual linked to Chinese organized crime. The USA currently has no way of determining if visa applicants are linked to sanctioned entities.

 

What's your solution, other than waving people in?

 

 

 

What you say is undocumented and somewhat incoherent.  Why would two un-named Burmese in New York contact an unidentified arms dealer in Thailand to arrange for some undisclosed third-party to threaten and injure a regime ambassador (presumably in Bangkok) to get him to agree to relinquish his post.  And if he does not subsequently do so, they are to kill him.  Far-fetched even for fiction.

 

The DKBA which you mention, as also the various BGFs, are regime-controlled organisms.  In no way supportive of a federal democratic Burma.  And they harbour huge Chinese-run scam-centres.  M.A.H.'s regime which together with its crony organisations drew profits from them has finally been forced, after years of financial gain therefrom, to take some action.  Owing to pressure from the Chinese Government, upon which the regime has become increasingly dependent due to its weakened hold on power.

 

The crimes in Burma to which you refer are almost exclusively the acts of the regime's armed forces, and to a lesser extent of its appointees;  if one excludes the killing by the Resistance of members of those armed forces and known collaborators (civil administrators and 'dalans', i.e. informers).  The NUG recently put its foot down when several non-CDM workers were assassinated to prevent further such incidents.  (CDM civil servants are those who have transferred their allegiance to the Resistance and moved to liberated areas).

 

27 minutes ago, ericbj said:

 

What you say is undocumented and somewhat incoherent.  Why would two un-named Burmese in New York contact an unidentified arms dealer in Thailand to arrange for some undisclosed third-party to threaten and injure a regime ambassador (presumably in Bangkok) to get him to agree to relinquish his post.  And if he does not subsequently do so, they are to kill him.  Far-fetched even for fiction.

 

The DKBA which you mention, as also the various BGFs, are regime-controlled organisms.  In no way supportive of a federal democratic Burma.  And they harbour huge Chinese-run scam-centres.  M.A.H.'s regime which together with its crony organisations drew profits from them has finally been forced, after years of financial gain therefrom, to take some action.  Owing to pressure from the Chinese Government, upon which the regime has become increasingly dependent due to its weakened hold on power.

 

The crimes in Burma to which you refer are almost exclusively the acts of the regime's armed forces, and to a lesser extent of its appointees;  if one excludes the killing by the Resistance of members of those armed forces and known collaborators (civil administrators and 'dalans', i.e. informers).  The NUG recently put its foot down when several non-CDM workers were assassinated to prevent further such incidents.  (CDM civil servants are those who have transferred their allegiance to the Resistance and moved to liberated areas).

 

 

The US stopped the attempted  assassination of an anti coup diplomat in New York. The case was concluded in 2022. Undocumented and incoherent? Are you  trying to stir up with  your statement  "Why would two un-named Burmese in New York contact an unidentified arms dealer in Thailand to arrange for some undisclosed third-party to threaten and injure a regime ambassador (presumably in Bangkok) to get him to agree to relinquish his post.  And if he does not subsequently do so, they are to kill him.  Far-fetched even for fiction."

Read the criminal charges. You live in fantasy land where there are no criminals or terrorists.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/two-myanmar-citizens-arrested-plot-injure-or-kill-myanmar-s-ambassador-united-nations

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1422266/download

https://thediplomat.com/2021/08/us-authorities-thwart-plot-against-outspoken-myanmar-envoy/

 

The Karen  rebels have evolved into an international criminal cartel using call centers to finance their revolution. Although the  Myanmar junta is evil, the rebels are not much better.

 

And you have still not  addressed the issue facing the USA: The verification of  visa applicants from Myanmar. What is your solution? How do you expect to the USA to  do background checks and to verify visa applicants when  there is no reliable information available from Myanmar?

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

The Karen  rebels have evolved into an international criminal cartel using call centers to finance their revolution. Although the  Myanmar junta is evil, the rebels are not much better.

 

You have either been severely misinformed, in which case improve your research on the matter, or else are of an inventive turn of mind.

 

As to my "not addressing the issue faced by the USA", please re-read my initial response.

 

I have been on the border over the past twenty-four years; involved with the struggle for human rights in Burma for slighly longer; launched a web-site dealing with the issues before first coming to the border in 2001; contributed regularly to two Burma yahoogroups; drafted upon request a petition condemning the Depayin Massacre published within three days of its occurrence; have personally known and worked with personnel at very different levels of the KNLA and with a senior member of the KNU; have known dissident Burma Army officers, including one trained in Russia and another in one of my classes; the General Secretary of the DAB, now deceased, who had broad access to unpublished sources, was for many years a close friend; and I lived with and taught English at Burmese organisations of diverse kinds, including to refugees, the ABSDF, the KYO and other ethnic and inter-ethnic organisations, including a school enabling young Burmese aged about 16 to 25 to acquire the GED and thereby enter certain Asian universities.

 

Nowadays retired, I am currently living with and cared for (after breaking a hip) by a Karen family whose home-town was in 3rd Brigade area.  The town was evacuated after being partially burnt down and then mortared by Burma Army troops stationed in a camp on the town's outskirts.  This was their means of responding to losses at the hands of youths forced out of the cities by the murders committed there by the military.  The IDPs formed a PDF in the neighbouring forests and proceeded to harass their oppressors by blowing up some thirty soldiers with an IED and then shooting dead the battalion's deputy CO.

 

Ok, the western world is misinformed. The Karen rebel groups are good Samaritans dedicated to restoring democracy. The US has it wrong. The EU has it wrong. Australia and  Canada have it wrong. Your assurances  that there is no  link between the Karen rebels and organized crime will fix it all.

 

The Thais who suffer from the yaba that flows across the border from Karen controlled zones  can  take comfort in your assurance that the Karen rebels have no involvement in the drug trade.

 

https://www.occrp.org/en/news/us-cracks-down-on-myanmar-rebel-group-behind-10-billion-scam

 

May 5, 2025

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Karen National Army (KNA), a militia group in Burma, as a transnational criminal organization, along with the group’s leader Saw Chit Thu, and his two sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, for their role in facilitating cyber scams that harm U.S. citizens, human trafficking, and cross-border smuggling.  The KNA-controlled region, located on the Thai-Burmese border, is home to multiple cyber scam syndicates, and the KNA has benefitted from its connection to Burma’s military in its criminal operations.  Although statistics vary, American victims of cyber scams like the ones emanating from Burma have collectively lost billions of dollars over the last three years.

“Cyber scam operations, such as those run by the KNA, generate billions in revenue for criminal kingpins and their associates, while depriving victims of their hard-earned savings and sense of security,” said Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender.  “Treasury is committed to using all available tools to disrupt these networks and hold accountable those who seek to profit from these criminal schemes.” Today’s action is taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13581, as amended by E.O. 13863, which targets transnational criminal organizations and their supporters, as well as E.O. 14014, which targets persons who threaten the peace, security, and stability of Burma. 

 

EU Sanctions Three Karen BGF Leaders

The European Union (EU) announced sanctions on the the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) leaders Brigadier General Saw Chit Thu, Major Saw Mote Thun and Major Saw Tin Win and the BGF-owned Chit Linn Myaing Group (CLM) company, on 29 October 2024.

https://karennews.org/2024/11/11682/

 

Your initial response and  the subsequent statements do not offer a methodology for the USA to  verify the identities and to perform background checks on visa applicants from Myanmar. You expect the USA to approve the visas, but offer no means of verifying who the visa applicants are. 

 

And for all of your self promotion, the reality is that the region is in worse shape than when you  showed up to offer the locals salvation. The deprivation of the people where you are can't be that bad,  if you are able to enjoy electricity and  internet service.

 

 

39 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

Your initial response and  the subsequent statements do not offer a methodology for the USA to  verify the identities and to perform background checks on visa applicants from Myanmar. You expect the USA to approve the visas, but offer no means of verifying who the visa applicants are. 

Burmese refugees are not freely moving around the region — they are assigned to designated refugee camps in Thailand  where they live for most of their lives under the supervision of international organizations. Because they are in these controlled, long-term camps and cannot legally leave to work elsewhere (including scam centers), their identities, backgrounds, and daily circumstances are continuously documented.

When their refugee applications are eventually approved, the U.S. already has extensive information about them gathered over many years. These individuals are not unknown walk-ins; they are captive refugees living in monitored environments, making it entirely feasible for the U.S. to verify their identities and conduct thorough background checks before granting resettlement.

5 hours ago, sanmyintmaung said:

 

Burmese refugees are not freely moving around the region — they are assigned to designated refugee camps in Thailand  where they live for most of their lives under the supervision of international organizations. Because they are in these controlled, long-term camps and cannot legally leave to work elsewhere (including scam centers), their identities, backgrounds, and daily circumstances are continuously documented.

When their refugee applications are eventually approved, the U.S. already has extensive information about them gathered over many years. These individuals are not unknown walk-ins; they are captive refugees living in monitored environments, making it entirely feasible for the U.S. to verify their identities and conduct thorough background checks before granting resettlement.

 

The US restrictions apply to Visa applicants and people benefiting from a temporary  deportation suspension.  You have not responded to the critical issue associated with visa applicants. I take it then that you acknowledge that it is currently impossible to  verify the backgrounds of visa applicants and that there is no way of determining if the passport that they may present is credible since the government of Myanmar does not exchange such information with the USA.

 

The US is not refusing to accept refugees. It has however, suspended the temporary protection from deportation from the USA for approx. 10,000 Myanmar nationals in the USA. They were admitted on a TEMPORARY basis and were never offered permanent residency. Now it is time for them to leave.  The DHS stated that “In parallel with the national political process, armed ethnic groups have established local and ethnic administrations, which have made tangible gains in governance and public services, signaling broader improvements in Burma’s stability.”  This means that if the Myanmar nationals object to the current military  junta, they can still safely return to non junta areas of Myanmar and live in peace.

 

You offer an idealistic summation of the living arrangements for the Myanmar refugees.  The Myanmar residents of the residential settlements in Thailand, have a weak reason to claim refugee status in the USA. They are living in safety in Thailand and they have access to food health care and shelter. It is a living situation that is better than that of a large number of US nationals.

 

Despite what you say, there is no way of verifying the true identities and histories of many of the Myanmar residents of thailand. You want the USA to rely on the NGOs to satisfy the need to verify the  visa applicants. The information that is provided by NGOs is not reliable. This has been repeatedly demonstrated by the experience in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Gaza.  Canada  and the EU relied on NGOs  who sponsored refugees from Burundi and Rwanda, and ended up taking in hundreds of murderous war criminals.  The same thing occurred with refugees after the Bosnian war, when Serbian war criminals  moved to Canada and the EU as refugees.

 

The US has the duty to verify  foreign nationals who wish to enter the USA. It cannot do so with the nationals of multiple countries. therefore, the USA has a  responsibility and a duty not to allow the entry of these nationals into the USA.

 

8 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

 

The US restrictions apply to Visa applicants and people benefiting from a temporary  deportation suspension.  You have not responded to the critical issue associated with visa applicants. I take it then that you acknowledge that it is currently impossible to  verify the backgrounds of visa applicants and that there is no way of determining if the passport that they may present is credible since the government of Myanmar does not exchange such information with the USA.

 

The US is not refusing to accept refugees. It has however, suspended the temporary protection from deportation from the USA for approx. 10,000 Myanmar nationals in the USA. They were admitted on a TEMPORARY basis and were never offered permanent residency. Now it is time for them to leave.  The DHS stated that “In parallel with the national political process, armed ethnic groups have established local and ethnic administrations, which have made tangible gains in governance and public services, signaling broader improvements in Burma’s stability.”  This means that if the Myanmar nationals object to the current military  junta, they can still safely return to non junta areas of Myanmar and live in peace.

 

 

I agree that the U.S. must thoroughly scrutinize everyone entering the country through proper background checks. However, this is often easier said than done. Even travelers from first-world countries with visa-free access to the U.S. are will soon be required to submit their last five years of social media history, precisely because strong privacy laws in those countries make traditional background checks nearly impossible.

Regardless of these difficulties, if even one terrorist is prevented from entering the U.S., the effort is fully justified.