Sweeping US immigration changes take effect as 250,000 visas revoked

WASHINGTON: Sweeping changes to United States immigration policy take effect on October 1 as the Trump administration tightens scrutiny of foreign nationals while the State Department says it has revoked more than 250,000 visas since President Donald Trump returned to office. The new federal fiscal year brings changes affecting green card applicants, visa holders, some non-citizens receiving government health coverage and people seeking certain US visas. The changes include the reopening of some employment-based green card categories, tighter eligibility requirements for some Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programme (CHIP) recipients, and expanded social-media screening of visa applicants. The State Department said the more than 250,000 visa revocations involved a range of alleged violations, including breaches of visa conditions, criminal activity, fraud, abuse of the immigration system and national security concerns. About 2,300 visas were revoked in cases involving so-called birth tourism, in which pregnant foreign nationals travel to the US specifically to give birth. “Every visa decision is a national security decision,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said, describing the revocations as part of an expanded vetting effort. The department has also revoked the visas of 27 current or former officials and their family members from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru over allegations of corruption. In another move, the administration has been preparing to revoke business and tourist visas held by as many as 200,000 foreigners who entered the US on B1 or B2 visas and subsequently applied for asylum. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has criticised what he described as “bogus asylum claims”, arguing that the asylum system was intended to protect people facing persecution rather than provide a way around immigration restrictions. The administration says a large number of asylum applications have contributed to a substantial backlog in th