Donald Trump to ban ‘fat foreigners’ from the US

United States President Donald Trump plans to ban 'fat foreigners' from receiving a US visa.

Visa officers have been instructed to turn away immigrants who are obese or suffer from specific health conditions, with a memo sent out last Thursday (6 November) from the State Department to embassies and consulates worldwide, revealing that visa applicants to the United States may face rejection if they have particular medical conditions, based on concerns they might burden domestic healthcare resources.

"You must consider an applicant’s health," the memo read. "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."

The directive then specifically mentions obesity, noting its links to asthma, sleep apnea, and hypertension.

Donald Trump has issued a new reason to deny visas to foreigners (Anna Moneymaker / Staff / Getty Images)

"All of these can require expensive, long-term care," it continues. "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 institutionalisation at government expense?"

News of the directive has received some criticism, with immigration lawyer Sophia Genovese telling the Los Angeles Times: "Taking into consideration one’s diabetic history or heart health history—that’s quite expansive.

"There is a degree of this assessment already, just not quite as expansive as opining over, 'What if someone goes into diabetic shock?' If this change is going to happen immediately, that’s obviously going to cause a myriad of issues when people are going into their consular interviews."

Additionally, Charles Wheeler, a senior attorney for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, told KFF Health News that the guidelines are likely only to be applied to visitors seeking permanent residency in the US.

The controversial guidance describes obese foreigners as a ‘public charge’ (Mike Stobe / Stringer / Getty Images)

He also expressed, however, concerns over the guidance ordering visa officers to determine whether an applicant’s health problems could cause them to seek government assistance.

"That’s troubling because they’re not medically trained, they have no experience in this area, and they shouldn’t be making projections based on their own personal knowledge or bias," he noted.

According to the CDC, more than two in five US adults are obese.

"The prevalence of obesity among US adults 20 and over was 41.9% during 2017–March 2020. During the same time, the prevalence of severe obesity among US adults was 9.2%. This means that more than 100 million adults have obesity, and more than 22 million adults have severe obesity," the health body outlines.

Obesity accounts for nearly $173 billion in medical expenditures in 2019.