EL PASO, TEXAS — FOX News and other outlets reported Wednesday that the Trump administration State Department is barring visa issuance to applicants from 75 countries, almost all of which have majority Black, Latine, or Asian populations. The article indicates that State will leave this bar in place until it completes “a reassessment of visa processing,” but does not describe what will be reassessed or when the agency plans to complete the process. The article indicates that State issued a statement concerning the policy change, but that statement was not on the State Department website at the time of the FOX News article’s publication.
The FOX News article suggests a connection between the pause, which is based on the federal immigration law’s “public charge” provision, and fraudulent use of federally funded health and social services programs. In fact, those two provisions of law are unrelated. Under the law, lawfully present immigrants are eligible to use of social services for which they qualify.
In response to the article, the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition issued the following statement from its executive director, Adriana Cadena.
“Being Black, Latino or Asian does not make someone likely to commit fraud, despite what you might hear from the White House. And being a person of color doesn’t make someone more likely to become a “public charge” dependent on government assistance. That’s not how America works – at least it’s not how America should work. Members of Congress must demand, yet again, that the Trump administration follow the law.”
