US State Department Memos Shed Light on ‘Extreme Vetting’ for Visas (Voice of America)
Voice of America, March 24, 2017
US State Department Memos Shed Light on ‘Extreme Vetting’ for Visas
“‘These measures could provide license for discrimination based on national origin and religion,’ human rights group Amnesty International wrote in a letter to Tillerson on Thursday. ‘They could provide a pretext for barring individuals based on their nonviolent beliefs and expression. Social media checks, as well as demands for social media passwords at U.S. borders, have significant implications for privacy and freedom of expression.’ Anil Kalhan, a law professor who chairs the international human rights committee of the New York City Bar Association, added that the directives ‘will needlessly worsen visa processing backlogs’ and may lead to unwarranted visa denials. Critics of Trump’s calls for ‘extreme vetting,’ including refugee officials and State Department staffers, have said the process for visa processing is already stringent.”
