Fat cross: Trump's cabinet made diabetes and cancer the reasons for visa refusal
The US Department of State has sent an instruction to American diplomatic missions urging service personnel to pay attention to the illnesses, age and financial situation of visa applicants. This was done due to concerns that applicants may need medical assistance. The White House considers such candidates to be a "financial burden" on the state budget. What is known about the innovations in visa legislation, why migrants are Donald Trump's weak spot and how they influence US policy is in the Izvestia article.
Cancer patients will be denied a US visa: what is known
Washington has included some illnesses in the list of reasons why foreigners may be denied a visa. Among them: oncology, obesity, heart disease and diabetes. On November 6, the State Department sent a corresponding instruction to US diplomatic missions around the world. The document also clarifies that the treatment of some diagnoses can be quite expensive. "You must take into account the applicant's state of health. Some medical conditions, including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancer, diabetes, metabolic disorders, neurological diseases, and mental disorders, may require treatment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars," the order says.
Speaking of obesity, the US Department of State urges to take this fact into account when issuing a visa, since the disease can provoke asthma, sleep apnea (impaired or stopped breathing during sleep), high blood pressure and clinical depression.
The instruction instructs visa services to pay attention to the age and financial situation of applicants so that they do not rely on American benefits in case of an unforeseen situation. Now it should be checked whether the candidate has sufficient funds to pay for treatment during the expected stay in the United States, without seeking help or hospitalization in government institutions. At the same time, the staff of the centers are left with the right to independently assess the possible costs of medical care for applicants. The ministry also calls for taking into account the number of dependents, children and elderly parents of the candidate, as well as their presence of any form of disability.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly recalled that the State Department's policy has had the authority "for 100 years" to refuse to issue visas to applicants if they could become a "financial burden on taxpayers." "The administration of President Trump is finally fully implementing a policy that puts Americans first," she stressed. Tommy Pigott, deputy head of the State Department's press service, also supported this point of view, noting that the White House values the interests of US citizens above all else.
After returning to the White House, Donald Trump tightens immigration policy. This also applies to the rules for issuing visas. Since the end of September, significant changes have been made to the relevant legislation, according to which American companies are now required to pay duties for hiring foreign employees in the amount of $ 100,000 per person. Before the innovations, this amount ranged from $1,700 to $4,500.
Currently, candidates can apply for visas to US diplomatic missions only in their country of citizenship or permanent residence. Citizens of countries where American consulates and embassies do not issue the relevant document may try to obtain it in other cities. For example, only American diplomatic missions in Astana or Warsaw will accept applications from Russians. Also, since the beginning of October, Washington has introduced an additional fee for nonimmigrant visa recipients, which by 2026 will amount to at least $250.
Trump's heel
Tightening migration policy is one of the points of Trump's election campaign. Recently, according to experts, Republicans, and with them the MAGA community, have been increasingly concerned about this problem and putting it at the forefront of the agenda.
The Axios portal published a study by the National Foundation for American Policy (NCAFP), according to which Donald Trump's tightening of immigration restrictions could lead to a reduction in the labor force in the country by 6.8 million people by 2028 and by 15.7 million by 2035. According to some estimates, a decrease in the number of specialists may negatively affect the country's economic growth, as well as the production of goods and services.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Axios that there is no "shortage of minds and hands" in the United States capable of supporting the state economy. However, the NCAFP study says that tougher immigration measures could reduce the average annual growth rate of U.S. GDP by about half a percent over ten years.
Vladimir Vasiliev, Chief Researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada, told Izvestia about the situation in the United States related to the shortage of qualified foreign specialists. According to the expert, such restrictions are related to the desire of the current Trump cabinet to show "future" voters that their interests and a happy future are the main vector of the 47th American president's policy.
— When a company invites highly qualified engineers, scientists, and professors, it issues a visa for 2-3 years, but then it can be extended. Here the MAGA movement has taken a tough position: it is necessary, as they say, to "limit everyone." Not only people from poor countries who are going for a better life, but also the "cream". And this is done because they come and get a good job, but, thereby, they close the mobility opportunities for American youth, who naturally should have some kind of career growth. Otherwise, the younger generation of doctors and scientists may even consider that they have no prospects for development, the expert is sure.
Malek Dudakov, an American political scientist, drew attention to the fact that the budget crisis in the United States was also the catalyst for the latest changes in visa legislation. Republicans are actively advocating for reducing some subsidies for migrants, as they have long become an impressive item of expenditure in the American budget.
— The Trump administration has decided to restrict the issuance of visas to sick people, pensioners, and so on for an understandable reason. They believe that all this is an additional burden for the US budget and for the medical sector of the state. Now we see that America already has a serious budget crisis, which is not least related to the issue of subsidies for health insurance. It was the Republicans who actively advocated reducing these subsidies, appealing to the fact that a considerable number of illegal migrants receive them, who, in theory, should not have the right to do so," the expert noted.
No migrants
Earlier, Donald Trump made a statement that about 25 million migrants had entered the United States before he came to power. Immediately after the inauguration, he signed a decree on the introduction of a state of emergency on the Mexican border, and also promised to carry out a large-scale operation to deport illegal immigrants from the country. This is not the first time that the 47th American president has tried to solve the problem of migrants in the United States. For example, one of the symbols of Trump's first presidential term was the "Great Mexican Wall", the construction of which began in 2017, but was never completed.
According to experts, Donald Trump's voters — representatives of the MAGA coalition — adhere to the political ideology of America First ("America first"), and also vote for the expulsion of migrants. Vladimir Vasiliev said: the 47th American president is "really starting to fear" that his most loyal supporters may well turn away from him.
— Now, when the scandal with Epstein's files is unfolding there and there are other unpleasant moments, the administration has decided to act this way, for "political reasons." <...> Politics in this case dominates the economy. For Trump, immigration is, and still is, the most important issue that he needs to address. He needs to present himself to the voters appropriately so that the form matches the content. There's nothing else behind it, from my point of view. Economics and any additional calculations are of a secondary or auxiliary nature," the expert explained.
Malek Dudakov, on the other hand, is confident that it is the economy that plays an important role in changing visa legislation. He also suggests that the White House will increasingly strengthen measures aimed at combating immigration.
— I think they will continue to tighten their migration policy, although in some aspects it contradicts Trump's other strategy — the reindustrialization of the American economy, since this requires a huge number of qualified personnel and labor, which are completely absent now. That's why this dilemma is actually quite serious, and it's far from certain that it will be resolved," the expert concluded.
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