The Trump administration is continuing to isolate the US from international forums, relationships and geopolitical norms.

Recently, US officials suspended the processing of immigrant visas for applicants from 75 countries and announced a withdrawal the from 66 global organisations, including the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD).

The visa suspension will affect applicants from Latin America and the Caribbean, the Balkans, and several countries in South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

The change affects people who want to move to the US permanently and not visitors or short-term visa holders.

But the move comes five months before the US hosts the FIFA World Cup along with Canada and Mexico, and at a time when crackdowns on immigrants, refugees, foreign students – as well as requirements for tourists to share the social media accounts – have sparked commentary that the US is becoming more hostile towards visitors.

“The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people,” the US State Department said in a statement.

“Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits,” the statement said.

The US’ withdrawal from the GFMD removes it from an international body tied to the United Nations’ Global Compact for Migration.

It comes after the US President criticised the world body at the UN General Assembly, claiming that European nations were “going to hell” if they continue with their open border policies.

The withdrawal was part of an executive order suspending US support for 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions, including those affiliated with the UN, according to a White House release.

Most of the targets are UN-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labour, migration and other issues the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and ‘woke’ initiatives.

Non-UN organisations on the list include the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and Global Counterterrorism Forum.

“The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” a State Department statement said.

The Trump administration previously suspended support from agencies like the World Health Organisation, the UN for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the UN Human Rights Council and the UN cultural agency UNESCO.

Many independent nongovernmental agencies, including UN affiliated one, have announced many project closures because of the Trump administration’s decision last year to slash foreign assistance through the effective abolition of USAID, the US’s foreign aid agency.

Meanwhile, the number of US citizens seeking asylum in Ireland has increased four-fold over the past 12 months, reports say.

Ninety-four US citizens sought asylum in Ireland in 2025, up from 22 the year before.

The number of asylum seekers from the US has continually increased since 2022 when just 13 people applied. There were 18 applicants in 2023.

Outside of the asylum system, 9,600 US citizens moved to Ireland in the 12 months to April 2025, which is almost double the 4,900 who immigrated there in the previous 12 months, according to government data.

According to a 2025 Gallup poll, a fifth of Americans said they would like to leave the US. This was higher among women aged 15 to 44, with 40 per cent saying they would move abroad permanently if they had the opportunity.