WASHINGTON (Kashmir English): All application procedures for immigrant visas in the United States are suspended, according to the new rules put into place by the Trump regime in an effort to strengthen the immigration laws and limit access to applicants identified as possibly being dependent on the US taxpayers’ support in the future, the representative of the State Department stated on Tuesday.
According to the official, this initiative was developed in all US embassies by the beginning of August, forcing the department to change the arrangement of visa appointments in order to allow for necessary “extensive training” to be carried out.
The State Department has been working with its updated guidelines all year, and training programs needed to be developed “to make sure that all consular officers can operate efficiently and consistently while assessing each applicant’s case”.
According to Financial Times, the ones whose interviews were already arranged received emails informing them of cancellations of their appointments. However, they were reassured that they would be given more information as to when and what time they would have their interview.
Government officials maintain that this is going to be helpful for the visa applicants by not using US government funds. On top of that, it is one more tactic used by the current administration to stop both legal and illegal immigration and be more selective when giving the right to enter the US to people.
The current administration also declared its intention to cancel the visas of the people who came to the US with tourism/ business visa and are now seeking asylum. The number of victims of this measure may reach 200, 000 people unless action is taken in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security.
The halt on new visas and training programs comes in the wake of an aborted Trump-driven attempt to restrict applications through a similar “public charge” tactic that included barring applicants from 75 countries picked by the government, resulting in a court ruling against his move.
“The court was clear that immigration laws may not be used to discriminate,” Joanna Cuevas Ingram, a senior lawyer at the National Immigration Law Center, said in a recent statement. “We will not stop fighting for every person and family impacted by the ban and hold the administration to the letter of the law.”
In February, federal judges overturned Trump’s attempt to totally shut down the US refugee program. Under Trump, federal agents have been allowed to stop some asylum seekers from entering the US, which human rights groups said has violated international asylum laws.
