The Trump administration w=has announced that immigrants will be denied visas once it is proven that they can not pay for health insurance or cover health care costs as soon as they become permanent residents of the United States.
The announcement was made on Friday in the latest move by President Trump to undermine legal immigration. The new requirement will take effect on November 3.
Mr. Trump issued a proclamation, ordering consular officers to reject immigrants who are seeking to live in the United States unless they “will be covered by approved health insurance” or can prove that they have “the financial resources to pay for reasonably foreseeable medical costs.”
The White House went on to state that immigrant visa petitions made abroad will only be accepted if the applicants demonstrate that they will have the ability to secure health insurance within a month of their arrival in the U.S. If that’s not possible, such immigrant will need to prove their financial resources to pay “reasonably foreseeable medical costs” — a standard not defined in the order.
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“The costs associated with this care are passed on to the American people in the form of higher taxes, higher premiums, and higher fees for medical services,” the order claims.
The new requirement also states that it will not apply to people who already hold immigrant visas, asylum seekers, refugees, children of U.S. citizens living overseas or holders of special visas for Iraqi and Afghan nationals who helped U.S. forces in those countries.
“The administration is on-the-record wanting to cut legal immigration, and particularly wanting to cut legal immigration of lower-skilled, lower-paid immigrants who are probably less likely to have health insurance coverage,” said Randy Capps, director of U.S. programs research at the nonpartisan think tank the Migration Policy Institute.
