US suspending immigrant visa processing from 75 nations
Starting January 21st, the US State Department will be indefinitely freezing immigrant visa processing for nationals of 75 countries, bringing the total number of nationalities banned from the US up to 93. Notable countries added to the list include Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and a total of 39 nations from Africa such as Somalia, Sudan, and Nigeria. Nearly 90% of African immigrant visa applicants and 44% of Asian applicants will be barred under the new policy. Not only will the ban cut the total amount of legal immigrants permitted into the US in half, but also target nearly half of the family members of US citizens and legal permanent residents applying for visas. In 2025, more immigrants exited the US than entered.
This move follows Trump’s ongoing terror campaign against Somalis in Minneapolis, citing alleged welfare fraud schemes and other risks of “public charge” as justification for the sweeping ban. The administration argues applicants from the selected countries would strain government resources and “exploit the generosity of the American people.” The State Department is updating all of its screening and vetting procedures to ensure all visa applicants are financially self-sufficient, weeding out poor migrants seeking refuge from nations war-torn by US imperialism.
More than a financial calculation, Trump’s visa ban exposes US empire’s existential anxiety about national security threats. It’s no coincidence that as oppressed nations have resisted US empire —with Palestine at the forefront — the administration has responded by violently clamping down on the border. Last November, Trump weaponized the November shooting of a National Guard member by an Afghan national as pretext to slash migration from “Third World Countries.” The problem was never with illegal immigrants, but with the volatile surplus populations produced by imperialism that the US must now discipline, tame, or eliminate to prevent the people of the world from rising up.
Sources:
https://www.alexnowrasteh.com/p/new-ban-bars-half-of-legal-immigrants
Seven Palestine Action Hunger Strikers End Strike After the UK government Rejects Awarding Elbit Systems UK a $2.7 billion Contract
The group representing the seven Palestine Action-affiliated activists, Prisoners for Palestine, released a statement on Wednesday that the hunger strikers have halted their strike and have started to accept food again. The hunger strikers were in severely critical, near-death conditions, telling their families that they were dying. The hunger strikers refused food for differing lengths of time, between 13 and 73 days, stopping for reasons such as muscle dystrophy, hospitalizations, and their demand being met.
The names of the brave folks who took on this life-threatening protest are:
- Heba Muraisi
- Kamran Ahmed
- Lewie Chiaramello
- Teuta Hoxha
- Jon Cink
- Qesser Zuhrah
- Umar Khalid
This end of their strike comes after one of their key demands was met: Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems—Israel’s largest weapon manufacturer–was denied a $2.7 billion contract by the UK government. The hunger strikers’ demands were:
- An immediate end to all censorship and restrictions on their correspondence and communications
- Immediate and unconditional release on bail
- The right to a fair and transparent trial
- The deproscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organization
- The permanent closure of all Elbit Systems facilities in the United Kingdom
Along with Elbit Systems UK being denied the contract, “Muraisi’s demand to be transferred back to HMP Bronzefield in Surrey had been accepted by HMP New Hall in Wakefield,” according to Middle East Eye.
The seven are among over two dozen political prisoners being held in “remand” in the UK, meaning none have been formally charged with any crimes. Many have been in the UK prison for over a year now.
Those on hunger strike sought to bring a spotlight to the British government’s complicity in the genocidal campaign that Israel continues to wage in Gaza, the West Bank, and the whole of Occupied Palestine, resulting in the ceaseless, brutal slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the past 2 years alone.
The alleged disruptions carried out by the dozens of Palestine Action-affiliated protestors on Elbit Systems manufacturing locations had been successful in shutting down four out of the ten Elbit sites in the UK. 85% of Israel’s drones and land arsenal is produced on UK soil by Elbit.
While Elbit was denied the contract, its rival company, Raytheon UK, was awarded the contract instead, according to an unnamed “insider” from the UK Ministry of Defence.
Sources:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-action-linked-prisoners-end-hunger-strike
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2629310/world
https://truthout.org/articles/palestine-action-prison-hunger-strike-ends-after-a-victory-in-the-uk/
CIA Meets with Interim President of Venezuela
CIA director John Ratcliffe met with interim president of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez. Reports of what they spoke about are vague and platitudinous, so we won’t dwell on them, except to say that Ratcliffe emphasized that the United States expects Venezuela’s cooperation – the implicit threat to Rodriguez’s person being clear. However, the meeting itself is evidence enough that Venezuela now must operate according to the new situation; the US has demonstrated its ability to physically and directly intervene in Venezuela’s internal affairs, and the interim Venezuelan government must include this fact in their political calculus.
The extent to which the United States is able to dictate policy to Venezuela is still not clear, but there is a basis for détente between the US and what remains of the Bolivarian government. Traditionally, Maduro’s electoral base was the urban poor, who depended on government aid programs to survive – aid programs which have had their funding cut drastically given that Venezuela’s GDP (adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity) fell 42% since 2014. Venezuela’s oil industry is decrepit: Venezuela controls 18% of the world’s oil reserves, but only produces 1% of the world’s oil exports. In other words, US sanctions have been working, eroding Maduro’s base of support and creating the conditions for his overthrow.
But the US ruling class is squeamish about regime change since the debacles of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, and the Bolivarian government still controls a robust bureaucracy and security apparatus, including the Colectivos (armed civilian committees which assist the government, and generally are militant Chavistas). Combine this with Trump’s obsession with revitalizing Venezuela’s oil industry, which is not possible without a stable Venezuelan government, and you have a recipe for the bizarre situation we see before us: a supposedly anti-imperialist president, Delcy Rodríguez, decrying US intervention, while meeting with the functionaries of US capital; agreeing to send the United States between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil, while arresting anti-Maduro dissidents.
For the Bolivarian government of Venezuela, riding the line between collaborationism and resistance is difficult, fraught, and will likely fail. For those of us in the United States, our task is clear – we must resist all US intervention in Venezuela, demand the release of Nicolás Maduro, and oppose the Trump corollary to the Monroe doctrine.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/us/politics/cia-director-ratcliffe-venezuela.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/world/americas/us-mexico-cartels.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/01/11/venezuela-united-states-raid-killed/
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/us/politics/cyberattack-venezuela-military.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/us/politics/us-boat-attacks-law.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/opinion/trump-premature-victory-venezuela.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/world/americas/venezuela-repression.html
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1392567/gross-domestic-product-gdp-at-ppp-venezuela/
https://palmbeachdemocracy.org/cutting-the-maduro-regimes-lifeline/
One Half of the Pedophile Ruling Class Goes After the Other
The Epstein investigation made headlines last week when Bill and Hillary Clinton refused to testify before Congress. Both declined to appear before the House Oversight Committee. The committee threatened contempt citations. No testimony was taken. No sealed records were opened. Congress issued subpoenas and stepped back.
Epstein’s trafficking network did not exist outside US state power. In 2008, the Department of Justice cut a non-prosecution deal that protected Epstein and unnamed co-conspirators from federal charges. Federal courts sealed evidence. Agencies held files. After Epstein died in federal custody, officials promised disclosures that never materialized. What the subpoenas this week sought was not new information but access to records that have been withheld for years.
The political framing around the refusals narrowed the story even further. Republican politicians turned the inquiry into a partisan attack on a Democratic political family. Democratic politicians dismissed the subpoenas as harassment. Neither party pressed the underlying questions: why prosecutors declined to pursue a full investigation, why judges sealed materials, or why agencies across multiple administrations failed to intervene despite clear evidence of trafficking and known associates. Meanwhile, those well-known associates – Trump and Clinton among them – are free and facing no consequences.
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bill-hillary-clinton-refuse-testify-house-epstein-probe-2026-01-13/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/14/hillary-clinton-contempt-epstein-comer
Behind Enemy Lines 