WT - Trump punishes sanctuary countries, halts visas for nations that refuse to cooperate on deportations

Stephen Dinan at The Washington Times ("hard-hitting news and fearless journalism") explained recent visa sanctions against four countries.

Money quote(s):

"Sanctions have been triggered only twice before — once in 2001 against Guyana and again late last year against Gambia. In both instances, they produced quick results. Guyana moved within months to issue travel documents to take back 112 of the 113 deportees stuck in a backlog."

Limiting the ability of foreign officials and their families' ability to visit the U.S. is what CAA likes to call "The Miami Sanction."

For much of Central America and the Caribbean, Miami provides Third World countries with a First World "capital city."  It's where they send their wives to shop and their kids to school.  Los Angeles and New York City fill similar roles for different regions as London and Paris do for much of the developing world in that hemisphere.  There are direct air-links to those cities from many Third World countries.

The "Miami Sanction" puts an exquisite pressure on foreign government officials.

"State Department officials said the sanctions begin Wednesday, halting issuance of at least some categories of visas to would-be travelers from Cambodia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Eritrea.

“The Secretary of State has ordered consular officers in Eritrea, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia to implement visa restrictions effective September 13, 2017,” the department said in a statement provided to The Washington Times. “The Secretary determined the categories of visa applicants subject to these restrictions on a country-by-country basis.”

The law allows for all visas to be halted to any country that refuses cooperation, but the department decided to impose less-draconian penalties in each of the four cases.

In Cambodia, only top diplomats and their families will be denied temporary tourism or business visas. In Eritrea, the U.S. Embassy will stop issuing business and tourist visas to all citizens.

In Guinea, government officials and family members will be denied business, tourist, and student and exchange program visas. In Sierra Leone, the government’s diplomats and immigration officials will be denied business and tourist visas."

Interestingly, the visa sanctions against the four countries show a graduated, even nuanced, set of penalties:

Eritrea - no B1/B2 visas for anyone, no how, no way;

Guinea - no B1/B2, F, or J visas for government officials and their families;

Sierra Leone - no B1/B2 visas for either diplomats or immigration officials;

Cambodia - no B1B2 visas for top diplomats and their families.

(CAA would love to know what factors resulted in this range of sanctions, but it's the kind of inside-baseball that only comes to light decades later in some diplomat's small-batch memoir.)

re: "Ten Things You Should Know About the State Department and USAID"

Thomas R. Nides, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, at DipNote ("U.S. Department of State Official Blog") had a good piece about things you likely don't know.

Money quote(s):

"Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates used to say that the Department of Defense has as many people in military bands as the State Department has in the Foreign Service."

The other sound bite factoid is that the DoD has more lawyers than the State Department has diplomats. I've never seen anyone even attempt to dispute either statement.

"2. We support American citizens abroad. In the past eight months, we provided emergency assistance to, or helped coordinate travel to safe locations for, American citizens in Japan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Bahrain, and Cote d'Ivoire in the wake of natural disasters or civil unrest. Last year, we assisted in 11,000 international adoptions and worked on over 1,100 new child abduction cases -- resulting in the return of 485 American children."

I was going to follow this up with an excerpt from the State Department's "mission statement" that presents consular activities such as protecting-Americans-abroad as one of the core missions of the Department, but all I can currently find is some blather from the Bureau of Resource Management about "Shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere."

Huh? (Which is to say: OFFS! WTF?)

(Okay: where did the real mission statement go? I've seen it before.... )

At least CA still has a real mission statement:

"The mission of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) is to protect the lives and interests of American citizens abroad and to strengthen the security of United States borders through the vigilant adjudication of visas and passports. CA contributes significantly to the USG goal of promoting international exchange and understanding. Our vision is to help American citizens engage the world. The Bureau issues the travel documents that allow Americans to travel the globe and lawful immigrants and visitors to travel to America and provides essential cycle of life services to American citizens overseas."

D/S Nides continued:

"9. We help Americans see the world. In 2010, we issued 14 million passports for Americans to travel abroad. We facilitate the lawful travel of students, tourists and business people, including issuing more than 700,000 visas for foreign students to study in the U.S. last year. And, if a storm could disrupt your vacation plans or if you could get sick from drinking the water, we alert you through our travel warnings."

Yeah. Stuff like that. Facilitate legitimate travel. Provide accurate and timely travel information and cautions. Get some.

"10. We are the face of America overseas. Our diplomats, development experts, and the programs they implement are the source of American leadership around the world. They are the embodiments of our American values abroad. They are a force for good in the world."

Development experts.... Sadly, D/S Nides' statement continues the conflation and assimilation of State and USAID. CAA remains wholly unconvinced that this is all that great a good idea.

That being said, U.S. diplomats serving at our far-flung embassies, consulate, and other missions abroad are often the first, if not the only, representatives of either/both the U.S. government or the American people who most non-Americans abroad will ever encounter in person.

And our powers should only be used for good.

D/S Nides concluded:

"All of this (and more) costs the American taxpayer about one percent of the overall federal budget. That is a small investment that yields a large return by advancing our national security, promoting our economic interests, and reaffirming our country's exceptional role in the world."

It's a truism (or "truthism") that most American citizens have a vast overestimation of just how much of the federal budget goes to either diplomacy or to foreign aid. Even when you throw in what the DoD spends or military aid, it's still a drop in the eye dropper compared to the rest of the "discretionary spending" and "entitlements."

(Oh, and this presumes that there is a budget, something which has not been true for several years now.)

8/26

re: "Houston Muslim Girl Being Forced to Return to Mali for Forced Marriage and Clitorectomy"

Pamela at Atlas Shrugs ("the news you will not hear from the mainstream media, providing original reportage, covering little-reported events of great import, and giving an unblinkingly honest examination of global affairs") relates coverage of an asylum case.

Quote(s):

"The ABC affiliate in Houston aired this story last night, about a woman from Mali being pressured by her family to return home for an arranged marriage and clitorectomy. She may have to return home eventually when her student visa expires. Fortunately, she does have lawyers working pro bono to help her attain asylum, but it's clearly not a sure thing."

&

"She needs apostate asylum. If the US sends her home, she's as good as dead."

WT - LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Don't issue visas to terror-group supporters

From my archive of press clippings:

Washington Times

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Don't issue visas to terror-group supporters

Friday, February 26, 2010

All of the Sept. 11 terrorists and the Christmas Day bombing suspect were issued visas by U.S. consular officers in the Middle East or Europe.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Before the Immigration Act of 1996, foreigners who were a security risk were denied tourist, student and business visas to the United States. This 1996 legislation was enacted into law by members of both major political parties and signed by the president.

Sponsored by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who wrote immigration legislation for 40 years, the Immigration Act stated that "mere membership" in a terrorist organization was not a sufficient basis for denying an applicant a visa. On June 10, 2002, then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage wrote that believing "an applicant may pose a threat to national security ... is insufficient grounds for a consular officer to deny a visa to an applicant.""

_____

MARGARET NAST
Las Cruces, N.M.

re: " "Nuclear terror risk to Britain from al-Qaeda": How's that student visa system working?"

Marisol at Jihad Watch ("Jihad Watch is dedicated to bringing public attention to the role that jihad theology and ideology plays in the modern world, and to correcting popular misconceptions about the role of jihad and religion in modern-day conflicts. We hope to alert people of good will to the true nature of the present global conflict.") highlights a crucial differences in how student visas are issued.

Money quote(s):

"After the failed Christmas attack on Northwest Flight 253, it was revealed that, in the U.K., they "now issue 370,000 student visas a year - almost the entire population of Bristol or Manchester - yet hardly any of the applicants ever see hide nor hair of an Immigration Officer." "

Nearly every applicant for a U.S. student visa must undergo a personal interview before being issued a visa. Further, the student must already have been accepted at a U.S. school, have enrolled in SEVIS, and at the time of the interview will undergo both name and biometric checks including both fingerprint and facial recognition.

It used to not be so rigorous, but that was before 9/11.

MH - Student group fights deportation of peers

From my archive of press clippings:

Miami Herald

Student group fights deportation of peers

Sunday, 12.06.09

By DANIEL SHOER ROTH

dshoer@MiamiHerald.com

The students' efforts were so quick and efficient that after just a few days of being held at an immigration detention center, brothers Jesús and Guillermo Reyes were set free.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Pacheco is a 24-year-old Ecuadoran with a student visa whose family was detained in 2006 for not having their paperwork in order.

On Nov. 14 Pacheco received a call telling her a student from Miami Dade College had been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)."

BG - Faster citizenship in uniform

From my archive of press clippings:

Boston Globe

Faster citizenship in uniform


February 19, 2009


THE MILITARY has long had a policy of offering accelerated citizenship to legal immigrants with green cards who volunteer for service. Now it is going to offer the same inducement to immigrants who are refugees or on temporary work or student visas. While thorough background checks will be needed to make sure the recruits aren't sleeper agents for enemy states or terrorist organizations, the program should help the Pentagon cope with two wars and the need to be prepared for other conflicts.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The Army, which is taking the lead on the new policy, hopes to use it to draw immigrants who have medical training or linguistic skills and familiarity with foreign cultures. The service is quick to point out that the new program is not a means of meeting overall recruitment goals."

&

"(T)he two wars of this decade have taught the military how critical it is to have troops with the ability to speak languages used in the world's hot spots, from the Pushtu of Pakistan and Afghanistan to the Somali and Swahili of East Africa. The new program also recognizes the large number of immigrant doctors and nurses working in this country, whose skills are also needed in the military. To qualify for enlistment, the immigrants will need to have been in the United States at least two years. Once sworn in, they can immediately apply for citizenship and can get it in as little as six months.

To protect against sleeper agents, all the recruits will be subject to screening by the Department of Homeland Security, in addition to the initial DHS screen done before they received their visas."