US could ban people with cancer from getting visa - as well as ‘fat foreigners’
Topics: US News, Health, Donald Trump, Cancer
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: US News, Health, Donald Trump, Cancer
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will now take chronic health conditions, obesity and even being past retirement age into account when potentially denying visas to immigrants.
Shockingly, these health conditions include heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
The Trump administration will be looking at various factors before approving or denying visa applications.
Rubio announced the news on November 6 in a cable to US consulates and embassies around the world, the Washington Post reports.
Advert
The new rules broadens the current medical screening which is in place, which currently only looks for contagious diseases.
It is believed to be part of a continued effort by the Trump administration to curb immigration.
The statement from Rubio instructed US embassies and consulates around the world about the new rules.
It advised: "You must consider an applicant's health.
"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 memo 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?"
It then directly mentioned obesity, asking consulates to consider the risk of sleep apnoea, high blood pressure and clinical depression linked to weight.
Visa officers will also be looking at retirement age, how many children or elderly parents they have, and whether these dependents have any disabilities.
Vic Goel, an immigration attorney in the US, told the Washington Post: "This guidance gives consular officers wide discretion to deny both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas based on common health conditions that, by themselves, have never been treated as disqualifying."
Meanwhile, Sarah Krieger, senior policy counsel at the National Immigration Law Center, told Axios the new guidance was an 'unusual and concerning move'.
She added: "This new policy seems designed to cause chaos and confusion. I expect it will harm the most vulnerable people, including those who may otherwise be eligible to come to the United States."
A White House representative, Anna Kelly, shared a statement saying 'for 100 years, State Department policy has included an authority to deny visa applicants who would pose a financial burden to taxpayers, such as individuals who were seeking publicly funded health care in the U.S. and could further drain health care resources from American citizens'.
She added that Trump's administration is 'finally fully enforcing this policy', and says he is 'putting Americans first'.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says 16 percent of the world's adult population is obese.