The Trump administration has quietly issued a sweeping directive instructing U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide to tighten visa‐issuance standards for applicants with costly medical conditions.
The new policy will give visa officers discretion to deny individuals with conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and mental‐health disorders if their lifetime care is deemed likely to become a burden on U.S. taxpayers.
According to KFF Health News, the U.S. Department of State reportedly instructs consular officers to assess whether visa applicants, and in some cases, their dependents, could become a “public charge” due to medical costs over their expected lifespan. Conditions flagged in the guidance include, but are not limited to:
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Respiratory diseases
- Cancers
- Diabetes and metabolic diseases
- Neurological or mental health disorders
- Obesity, explicitly mentioned as a red flag due to its connection to sleep apnea, asthma, hypertension, and other expensive conditions.
“Does the applicant have adequate financial resources to cover the costs of such care over his entire expected lifespan without seeking public cash assistance or long-term institutionalization at government expense?” the guidance stated.
“Self-sufficiency has been a long-standing principle of US immigration policy … and the public-charge ground of inadmissibility has been a part of our immigration law for more than 100 years.”
The Trump administration frames this directive as a taxpayer-protection measure.
A spokesperson for the State Department told Fox News, “It’s no secret the Trump administration is putting the interests of the American people first. This includes enforcing policies that ensure our immigration system is not a burden on the American taxpayer.”
More from KFF Health News:
The new guidelines mandate that immigrants’ health be a focus in the application process. The guidance applies to nearly all visa applicants but is likely to be used only in cases in which people seek to permanently reside in the U.S., said Charles Wheeler, a senior attorney for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, a nonprofit legal aid group.
“You must consider an applicant’s health,” the cable reads. “Certain medical conditions – including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions – can require hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of care.”
About 10% of the world’s population has diabetes. Cardiovascular diseases are also common; they are the globe’s leading killer.
The cable also encourages visa officers to consider other conditions, like obesity, which it notes can cause asthma, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure, in their assessment of whether an immigrant could become a public charge and therefore should be denied entry into the U.S.
“All of these can require expensive, long-term care,” the cable reads. Spokespeople for the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the cable.
Visa officers were also directed to determine if applicants have the means to pay for medical treatment without help from the U.S. government.
The post Trump Administration Moves to Protect U.S. Taxpayers — Foreign Visa Seekers With Costly Medical Conditions Like Diabetes and Obesity May Be Denied Entry Under New Directive appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.