The Trump administration has quietly created an exemption for foreign-trained physicians with pending visa or green card applications, a change immigration attorneys and medical groups had been advocating for months.

Physicians Get A Lifeline, But No Guarantees

Foreign-born doctors disproportionately serve rural and underserved communities, according to the National Library of Medicine. During COVID-19, 45.6% of foreign-trained doctors supported rural patients, with 64% serving disadvantaged communities broadly, NLM research shows. Libyan pulmonologist Dr. Faysal Alghoula treats roughly 1,000 patients across rural Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, where wait times for specialists run four to five months, Alghoula told The Associated Press.

The exemption allows immigration officials to review cases but does not guarantee approval of visas or green cards.

Thousands Still Frozen Out

The crackdown escalated in June 2025 when President Donald Trump imposed a full immigration ban on 12 nations, including Libya and Iran. By November 2025, after the fatal shooting of a National Guard member near the White House by an Afghan national, Trump announced a permanent migration pause from what he called "Third World countries." By January 2026, the administration had also suspended visa reviews for citizens of more than 75 countries.

The pause continues for immigrants from 39 high-risk countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, and Venezuela, blocking work authorization, health insurance, and driver's licenses, and also barring re-entry for individuals who leave the country.

The scale of Trump's crackdown on immigration is measurable. The Brookings Institution reported in January 2026 that the United States recorded negative net migration for the first time in 50 years, with estimates ranging from -295,000 to -10,000.