US tightens visa checks

Фото: Depositphotos

US Secretary of State Tillerson instructed diplomatic missions to identify “population groups that justify an increased level of control” and to tighten screening for visa applicants in these groups, reports Reuters, with reference to diplomatic sources.

He also ordered the “mandatory verification of social media” of all applicants who have ever visited the territories controlled by the “Islamic State”. The source noted that checking social media is now quite rare.

Four memoranda issued by Tillerson over the past 2 weeks have provided insight into how the government is implementing what President Donald Trump has called "enhanced screening" of foreigners staying in the United States.

One of them, dated March 17, refers to the creation of working groups of law enforcement and intelligence officials who will develop "a list of criteria for identifying groups of people who have applied to the diplomatic mission, for whom enhanced monitoring is required." Applicants who fall into one of these groups must pass a higher level security screening. At the same time, everything depends on the country, since there is no coordination between the embassies.

Immigration lawyers said that the authorities could now refuse a visa on the basis of nationality or religion, and not because they represent a real threat to the United States.

Organization Amnesty International on Thursday urged the State Department to make public the text of the guide.

“These measures may sanction discrimination on the basis of nationality and religion,” the organization said in a letter to Tillerson.

State Department officials declined to comment on the specifics of the memoranda, citing the fact that this is internal documentation.

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