State Dept. Quietly Rewrites the Visa Interview
A worldwide cable mandates two new questions that could bar persecution survivors from ever boarding a plane to the U.S. — before they set foot on American soil.
WASHINGTON — Every person on earth applying for a U.S. tourist visa, student visa, or work visa now faces two new questions before their consular interview can proceed: Have you been harmed in your home country? Do you fear going back?
Answer yes — or stay silent — and the denial follows automatically.
The State Department issued the directive in a worldwide cable dated April 28, publicly confirmed two days later. The Guardian obtained the cable. The Washington Post first reported it.
The questions target what the administration calls “asylum shopping” — the department’s term for applicants it believes are concealing protection claims to gain entry on temporary visas. “The high number of aliens claiming asylum in the United States indicates that many aliens misrepresent this intention to consular officers,” the cable reads.
The directive cites Executive Order 14161, which President Trump signed on his first day back in office, ordering federal agencies to tighten immigration screening.