USA – Even foreigners holding valid US visas could be subject to deportation thanks to a new State Department policy under the Trump administration.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that the State Department is reviewing the records of 55 million foreigners who hold visas to see if those residents broke any rules and thus become ineligible to live in the United States.
The department told the AP that visa holders are subject to ‘continuous vetting.’
“We review all available information as part of our vetting, including law enforcement or immigration records of any other information that comes to light after visa issuance indicating a potential liability,” the State Department said.
The department told the AP that it is looking for individuals who have overstayed their visas, conducted criminal activity and are threats to public safety.
They mentioned specifically engaging in any form of terrorist activity or providing support to a terrorist organisation.
If an infraction is discovered that individual’s visa could be revoked – and they could be deported like the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who have deported since the advent of the second Trump administration.
The policy shift indicates a major deportation escalation, as visa holders are in the United States legally.
President Donald Trump won a second term in office promising the country’s largest mass deportation, but his campaign rhetoric focused mainly on migrants coming into the US illegally from the southern border.
The administration has steadily imposed more restrictions and requirements on visa applicants, including requiring them to submit to in-person interviews.
The review of all visa holders appears to be a significant expansion of what had initially been a process focused mainly on students who have been involved in what the government perceives as pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel activity.
Officials say the reviews will include all visa holders’ social media accounts, law enforcement and immigration records in their home countries, along with any actionable violations of US law committed while they were in the United States.
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