In a new and strict measure by the administration of the outgoing President “Donald Trump” to curb illegal immigration, the United States required citizens of a number of Asian and African countries wishing to visit it to deposit a financial guarantee, the value of which could reach 15 thousand dollars, to discourage them from staying. On its territory, after the expiration of their visa.
The official motive behind this bail is to contribute to the cost of deporting the owner, if he stays for a longer period of time than the authorized one and becomes a surreptitious resident.
The new measure mainly includes travelers from African countries (Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan and Chad) and Asia (Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, Iran, Laos, Syria and Yemen) in addition to Papua New Guinea. According to Agence France-Presse.
According to the decree published in the Official Gazette and outlining the effects of this decision, more than 10% of visitors from these 23 countries stay on US soil after the expiry of the period allowed in their visas.
Under the new procedure, citizens of these countries who hold B-class visas that allow a short-term visit to the United States for the purpose of tourism or trade will be required to pay an amount that can reach up to 15,000 US dollars held by the US Immigration and Customs Service, If he fails to prove that he left the United States within the specified time limit.
The requirement to deposit this guarantee does not apply to students or travelers from developed countries who do not require the United States to obtain a visa to enter its territory.
Contrary to what happened in the past in all cases related to the amendment of immigration rules, this guarantee was approved without prior notice and without putting it on public debate.
The new measure will take effect on December 24, with a trial period of 6 months.
However, President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20, may end it before that date, after he promised during the election campaign to adopt a less strict immigration policy.
Biden had previously promised, from the first day of his term, to cancel the immigration decree issued by Trump, which bans entry to citizens of several countries, most of whom are Muslims, and which his opponents consider to be an Islamophobic measure.
He also pledged to address the detention procedures for asylum seekers and the “scandal” of separating illegal immigrants’ families at the US-Mexico border.
Biden also wants Congress to quickly pass a law that will “lay out a road map to citizenship” for the 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States and for the nearly 700,000 young people who arrived illegally in the United States when they were children, calling them “dreamers.”
