2 October : The Trump administration has continued to tighten US immigration and visa policies, with the State Department cancelling more than 250,000 visas since President Donald Trump took office. Authorities have also stepped up screening of foreign nationals and introduced a range of measures targeting illegal immigration.
A State Department official told Fox News Digital that visas had been revoked for violations of visa conditions, involvement in criminal activity, calls for violence against the United States or US citizens, fraud, abuse of the immigration system and conduct considered a threat to national security.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said more than 250,000 visas had been cancelled since Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio took office. He said national security considerations were taken into account in every visa-related decision.
According to Pigott, a US visa is not a right but a privilege. He said screening would continue to identify individuals considered capable of posing a threat to community safety.
US authorities said 2,300 of the cancelled visas were linked to so-called “birth tourism”, in which foreign pregnant women are alleged to travel to the United States with the aim of giving birth there so that their children obtain US citizenship.
The administration also cancelled the visas of 27 current and former officials from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, along with members of their families, on Monday over allegations of corruption.
The visa cancellation drive has expanded beyond these cases. Earlier this summer, the administration prepared to cancel the B-1 and B-2 business and tourist visas of around 200,000 foreign nationals. Some of those individuals subsequently sought asylum in the United States.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau accused people of making fraudulent asylum claims of exploiting loopholes in the legal system and contributing to a growing court backlog.
More than 175,000 visas were cancelled by the State Department in August. The cases included individuals who had come into contact with law enforcement over allegations involving assault, driving under the influence, theft and drug-related offences.
Meanwhile, the proposed $100,000 H-1B visa fee for foreign skilled workers has become the subject of another legal dispute. A US federal court has for the second time blocked implementation of the fee.
US District Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, California, issued the order. According to Reuters, the court found that the fee had been introduced without following the required rule-making procedures.
The ruling followed a lawsuit brought by a coalition of unions, employers and non-profit organisations. The injunction blocking the $100,000 fee will remain in place while the case filed in October is being litigated.
In June, a federal judge in Boston had temporarily blocked the same fee in a separate case brought by 20 US states. A Boston-based appeals court upheld that decision in July.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security proposed a permanent fee of about $103,000 in August. If the proposal is finalised, it could also face a legal challenge. However, the legal issues surrounding that proposed fee are separate from those in the ongoing cases over the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B fee.
Source: Fox News Digital and Reuters