President Donald Trump’s administration has issued a pause on visa appointments for applicants around the world during an ongoing immigration crackdown by the U.S. government in the Republican leader’s second term in the White House.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday that it launched a global training initiative at all U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide and that appointments for visa services will be adjusted to accommodate the training.
Trump has pursued an aggressive deportation drive and immigration crackdown that includes revocations of visas and green cards and rejection of applications over a. range of reasons like political opinions and pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel’s assault on Gaza.
He says the crackdown aims to improve domestic security.
The crackdown has faced some legal setbacks. A U.S. judge on Friday struck down a Trump administration policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, saying that the policy exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statutory authority.
The State Department did not specify details on the training and its timeline, beyond saying the training aimed to help consular officers screen out applicants deemed likely to become dependent on U.S. public benefits and to ensure evaluation of visa applicants “comprehensively and consistently.”
The pause on visa appointments was reported earlier by the Financial Times, which said immigrant visa applicants with scheduled interviews at U.S. embassies and consulates have received emails that their appointments were being rescheduled and that they would receive future notice of a new date.
Trump’s immigration crackdown has been widely condemned by human rights groups as being discriminatory and in violation of free speech and due process rights. Rights groups also say the crackdown has created an unsafe environment in the U.S., especially for ethnic minorities who have raised concerns about racial profiling.