President Trump has been promising to increase the difficulty for non-Americans to receive United States visas ever since he was on the campaign trail. Today, the State Department officially has new grounds to deny entry to visitors or remove them from US soil if they are currently residing here.
In connection with all the United States Embassies around the globe, Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, stated that visitors who do not stay on their predetermined course of action when in the United States for at least three months will be in danger of “willful misrepresentation.”
If visitors fail to include such information when in their interview with a consular official before entering the US, it will be considered a deliberate lie to authorities. If the visitor changes his or her plans after three months of residing in the US, they still face a problematic situation.
Such lies could include marrying an American, dropping out of school, and so on. If the individual is caught veering from their predetermined plan, it could make it extremely difficult, or even impossible, for them to renew the visa in the future. This also could be cause for the individual to be deported back to their country of origin.
Associate Director of Government Relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Diane Rish, explained via the New York Times that “this is a significant policy change.”
Rish stated that “if someone comes to the U.S. as a tourist, falls in love and gets married within 90 days and then applies for a green card, this means the application would be denied.”
According to the US Department of State, from the beginning of the fiscal year in 2012 until 2016, there was an increase in the number of visas issued. In 2016, the United States had issued more than 10 million visas.
With these new regulations in place, 38 countries including a majority of Europe, Australia and Japan, do not need specific travel visas in order to come and study in the United States. However, most of the Middle East, Africa, and most of Asia do need such documentation to enter.
As of now, consular decisions about whether or not to allow certain individuals into the country has caused a large amount of tension between the United States and other countries. Many times, it has been noted that “hundreds line up daily outside American embassies and consulates to apply.”
Although there are many places that are allowed entrance into the US, there are also some of those who are forbidden entry, no matter the circumstance. In a Supreme Court case on President Trump’s travel ban, the six countries of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen have all been denied entry into the United States. These countries all have a large population of Muslims and refugees.
This push for visa restrictions comes as the Trump administration moves to eliminate illegal immigration into the country. Earlier in September, Trump ended DACA, established during the Obama administration. By dissolving DACA, Trump is trying to remove the protection of over 800,000 young adults who were originally brought into the United States illegally as children.
The spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Ira Mehlman, states that his group advocates for these new rules regarding the visa restrictions. As reported by the New York Times, Melhman believes that “it’s an effort to prevent people from abusing the legal immigration process.”
“The burden of proof,” Mehlman says, “should be on the people who say their plans have changed.”
Featured image via Dreamstime/Yury Shirokov
