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US senator asks govt to stop visas for Indian citizens
WASHINGTON: A US Senator has asked the Obama Administration to discontinue issuing immigrant and non-immigrant visas to citizens from 23 countries including India
WASHINGTON: A US Senator has asked the Obama Administration to discontinue issuing immigrant and non-immigrant visas to citizens from 23 countries including India and China, alleging that these nations are not cooperating to take back illegal immigrants.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the Obama Administration has failed to use authority “to hold accountable those countries that won’t take back their own citizens who have been ordered removed from the US.”
This has allowed thousands of criminals to be released into US communities, he said. “Many times, these individuals have criminal histories in addition to entering the country illegally or overstaying their visa.”
“Dangerous criminals, including murderers, are being released everyday because their home countries will not cooperate in taking them back,” he said.
In fiscal year 2015 alone, 2,166 individuals were released in the US because of this decision and the non-cooperation from countries; more than 6,100 were released in the preceding two years, said Grassley, who is the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman.
Currently, 23 countries are labelled by the US as uncooperative, with the top five most recalcitrant countries being Cuba, China, Somalia, India, and Ghana, Grassley said.
In addition, US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is monitoring another 62 nations where cooperation is strained, but which are not yet deemed recalcitrant.
In the letter to Johnson, Grassley reminded him that Congress addressed this problem when it enacted section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
