Trump administration moves to make tougher U.S. visa vetting permanent

[webfact]

Trump administration moves to make tougher U.S. visa vetting permanent

By Yeganeh Torbati

 

A sign warns of surveillance at the International Arrival area, on the day that U.S. President Donald Trump's limited travel ban, approved by the U.S. Supreme Court, goes into effect, at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., June 29, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration moved on Thursday to make permanent a new questionnaire that asks some U.S. visa applicants to provide their social media handles and detailed biographical and travel history, according to a public notice.

 

The questionnaire was rolled out in May as part of an effort to tighten vetting of would-be visitors to the United States, and asks for all prior passport numbers, five years' worth of social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers and 15 years of biographical information including addresses, employment and travel history.

 

A State Department official declined to provide data on how many times the form had been used or which nationalities had been asked to fill it out since May, only stating that it estimates 65,000 visa applicants per year "will present a threat profile" that warrants the extra screening.

 

President Donald Trump ran for office in 2016 pledging to crack down on illegal immigration for security reasons, and has called for "extreme vetting" of foreigners entering the United States. On Wednesday, he threw his support behind a bill that would cut legal immigration to the United States by 50 percent over 10 years.

 

The Office of Management and Budget, which must approve most new federal requests of information from the public, initially approved the form on an "emergency" basis, which allowed its use for six months rather than the usual three years.

 

The State Department published a notice in the Federal Register on Thursday seeking to use the form for the next three years. The public has 60 days to comment on the request. (See: http://bit.ly/2uZNXJD)

 

The questions are meant to "more rigorously evaluate applicants for terrorism, national security-related, or other visa ineligibilities," the notice said.

 

While the questions are voluntary, the form says failure to provide the information may delay or prevent the processing of a visa application.

 

Trump ordered a temporary travel ban in March on citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. After months of legal wrangling, the Supreme Court in June allowed the travel ban to go forward with a limited scope.

 

The form does not target any particular nationality.

 

Seyed Ali Sepehr, who runs an immigration consultancy in California serving Iranian clients applying for U.S. visas, said that since late June, all of his clients who have been referred for extra security checks have also been asked to fill out the new form.

 

Kiyanoush Razaghi, an immigration attorney based in Maryland, said he knows of Iraqis, Libyans and Iranians who have been asked to fill out the form.

 

Immigration attorney Steve Pattison said one of his clients, who is not from one of the six travel ban countries, had been asked to fill out the new form when applying for a visitor visa, indicating that consular officers are using it broadly.

 

"It could be that everyone is missing another consequence of the use of the form – its deployment in a far wider sense to cover all sorts of individuals," Pattison said.

 

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; editing by Sue Horton and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-04

[RichardColeman]

least trump has his head screwed on in some things. uk and eu let in anybody - with or without a passport !

[ballpoint]

I wonder if the photo in the OP was intentional?  A large "No Entry" sign below "International Arrivals".  Sums up Trump's policy for many.

[Golgota]

11 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

least trump has his head screwed on in some things. uk and eu let in anybody - with or without a passport !

false! but I guess this is just a way for you to vent.

If this law is enforced, please ask the US government to erase the text written on the Satue of Liberty

[farcanell]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

least trump has his head screwed on in some things. uk and eu let in anybody - with or without a passport !

Kidding right?

 

its not so much that I would not provide this information ( although I would not)... it's that I could not. The requirement is ridiculous

 

i fully appreciate the need for vetting... but this is way over the top, and nothing more than a tool to target certain people

 

the only thing Donald Duck has got right, is comedic entertainment.

[Golgota]

I am sure half of the Ivanka Trump family will be pleased to not being able to come to US...

[Golgota]

4 minutes ago, farcanell said:

the only thing Donald Duck has got right, is comedic entertainment.

It looks more and more like a tragedy

[Thaidream]

Trump's policies are being dictated by an inner circle of the alt right such as Bannon and Miller who are anti immigrant and anti everything that is not American.  Asking this kind of information is absurd and a violation of the right of privacy and has no business in an open society.

 

In addition Trump's new Immigration policy that is based upon such things as ability to speak English and higher education is exclusionary and in my mind discriminatory.  Under these rules, my grandparents on either side would have never been allowed to enter the United States.  They were uneducated- could not speak English and poor.  They entered at Ellis Island New York and went on to become fluent in English; had jobs and opened business and paid their taxes

 

Donald Trump's vision of America is not the vision of the founding fathers nor the vision of  most Americans. He is distorting the meaning of the Statue of Liberty and the memories of our fallen soldiers who died to preserve the American Dream.

 

Trump and his minions are a grave and present danger to America and the World.  It's time for patriotic Republicans to stand up and denounce this megalomaniac before he does more damage to America.

[thehelmsman]

Of course the Democrats don't want educated, self sustaining immigrants to be a part of the American Dream. They only want to grow their voter base by bringing in immigrants who will rely on gov assistance.

[thehelmsman]

13 hours ago, Golgota said:

false! but I guess this is just a way for you to vent.

If this law is enforced, please ask the US government to erase the text written on the Satue of Liberty

Don't twist the Statue of Liberty's meaning to fit this argument. By your definition we should have open borders with no restrictions.

 

Canada is being overrun with refugees who are fleeing USA because of Trump's policies. It's working already.

[iReason]

43 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

Of course the Democrats don't want educated, self sustaining immigrants to be a part of the American Dream.

They only want to grow their voter base by bringing in immigrants who will rely on gov assistance.

 

Just making stuff up.

Along with a bunch of hyperbolic demagoguery.

[iReason]

45 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

Canada is being overrun with refugees who are fleeing USA because of Trump's policies.

 

Just making stuff up.

Again.

 

Erroneous gibberish.

[heybruce]

All prior passport numbers?  I don't know what my first passport number was.  I'm not even sure how many passports I've had, all from the US and all legal.

 

" 15 years of biographical information including addresses, employment and travel history. "

 

That should keep out travelers ranging from backpackers to globe-hopping business people.

Edited August 4, 2017 by heybruce

[Scott]

2 hours ago, thehelmsman said:

Of course the Democrats don't want educated, self sustaining immigrants to be a part of the American Dream. They only want to grow their voter base by bringing in immigrants who will rely on gov assistance.

Immigrants do not qualify for government assistance.  

[thehelmsman]

1 hour ago, iReason said:

 

Just making stuff up.

Again.

 

Erroneous gibberish.

Mainly from Cuba says the news, Canada is being overwhelmed. Keep up the good work Canada.

[thehelmsman]

12 minutes ago, Scott said:

Immigrants do not qualify for government assistance.  

https://www.nilc.org/issues/economic-support/overview-immeligfedprograms/

 

It's not as easy as that. 30 sec. search gives answer. Not sure where your intel comes from.

[Scott]

2 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

https://www.nilc.org/issues/economic-support/overview-immeligfedprograms/

 

It's not as easy as that. 30 sec. search gives answer. Not sure where your intel comes from.

 

You might want to read the link.  

 

Prior to arriving in the US, immigrants must have means of support or a sponsor who has the means to provide for their maintenance.   There are very specific exemptions, but they are exemptions and not the rule.   The rule is that immigrants do not get government assistance -- since we are dealing with sweeping statements here.

 

Oh, and my intel comes from years of working with refugees, immigrants, US Department of State  contracts related to admissions to the US.   There are two overriding things that must be answered, for those on temporary visas it is they must overcome the presumption that they will remain and for both tourists and immigrants the second is that they are likely to become a public charge.   If you don't meet those you don't get admitted.  

 

Now back on the topic of vetting. 

[Scott]

Off-topic post violating Fair Use has been removed.   Post again and you will be suspended.  

[heybruce]

31 minutes ago, thehelmsman said:

Mainly from Cuba says the news, Canada is being overwhelmed. Keep up the good work Canada.

Cuban refugees in Canada?  I'd like to know your source for this.

 

For all its many faults, Cuba has an excellent educational system and healthcare, so the refugees should be educated and healthy.  Also Cuban immigrants (excluding criminals Castro released for the Mariel boatlift) have a reputation for being industrious and ambitious.  So, if true, Canada is accepting the best. 

 

Yes, good work Canada.

[thehelmsman]

1 minute ago, Scott said:

Off-topic post violating Fair Use has been removed.   Post again and you will be suspended.  

No problem, I've better things to do than battle with keyboard warriors.

Got a long weekend ahead of me in SoCal.

[iReason]

7 hours ago, thehelmsman said:

Mainly from Cuba says the news, Canada is being overwhelmed. Keep up the good work Canada.

 

Nowhere in the news does it substantiate the erroneous, hyperbolic nonsense you posted before:

 

10 hours ago, thehelmsman said:

Canada is being overrun with refugees who are fleeing USA because of Trump's policies.

 

[YetAnother]

On 8/4/2017 at 0:55 PM, farcanell said:

Kidding right?

 

its not so much that I would not provide this information ( although I would not)... it's that I could not. The requirement is ridiculous

 

i fully appreciate the need for vetting... but this is way over the top, and nothing more than a tool to target certain people

 

the only thing Donald Duck has got right, is comedic entertainment.

I also could not provide all of that detail with any accuracy

on the other hand, I doubt whether the authorities  could or would check any of it