Pause Admissions Until Security Ensured (PAUSE) Act of 2025, H.R. 6225

Fact Sheet - Friday, November 21, 2025

Pause Admissions Until Security Ensured (PAUSE) Act of 2025, H.R. 6225

Introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)

The PAUSE Act imposes a moratorium on all visa issuances (except tourist visas) and immigration status adjustments, codifies and expands President Trump’s H-1B fee, ends Optional Practical Training (OPT), and terminates the Visa Lottery Program.

• Moratorium on Visas and Status Changes—The Act mandates that, effective immediately upon enactment, no alien may be issued a visa (other than a B-2 tourist visa) or provided any lawful immigration status until Congress amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to:
• Overturn Plyler v. Doe: States and localities must no longer be forced to provide public education to illegal aliens;
• End Adjustment of Status: Nonimmigrants must be barred from adjusting to Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status within the United States (i.e., they must leave the country when their visas expire and apply for LPR status from their home country);
• End Birthright Citizenship: U.S. citizenship must be limited to a child born in the United States who has at least one parent who is either a U.S. citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residency;
• End Chain Migration: Family-based immigration under section 201(a)(1) of the INA must be limited strictly to the nuclear family of a sponsor—the spouse or minor child of a U.S. citizen, or the spouse or minor child of a lawful permanent resident; 
• Bar the admission of aliens presenting a national security threat: No alien may be admitted into the United States who is an Islamist, an observer of Sharia law, a member or associate of the Chinese Communist Party, or a known or suspected terrorist or member of a foreign terrorist organization; and
• Eliminate all Federal welfare for noncitizens: Aliens are ineligible for Medicare, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, food stamps (SNAP), tax credits, the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) nutrition program, student loans, housing loans, and small business loans.
• Impact on Pending Applications—An alien who applied for an immigration status prior to enactment, but who is ineligible for that status under the moratorium, will have his or her application revoked and fees refunded.
• H-1B Fee Expanded—The bill codifies and expands President Trump’s Proclamation requiring employers to pay a fee of $100,000 for each new H-1B worker they bring into the United States. In addition to paying the fee for new H-1B admissions, employers would also have to pay the fee for:
• An application to extend the term of an H-1B visa; and
• An application for an H-1B worker to change employers.
• Termination of the Optional Practical Training (OPT) and Curricular Practical Training (CPT) Programs—The bill ends OPT and CPT by prohibiting the Department of Homeland Security from granting employment authorization to foreign students with F-1 student visas.
• Termination of the Visa Lottery Program—The Act permanently repeals subsection (c) of section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, thereby terminating the visa lottery. This provision takes effect upon enactment, and any aliens who received a selection notification prior to enactment but have not been granted a green card will have their applications revoked and fees refunded.