Latest news with #visarestrictions
New York Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
What Trump's Immigration Crackdown Means for the 2028 Olympics
President Trump is making plans to celebrate the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, an event that will draw many thousands of people from around the world, even as he makes it harder than ever for foreign visitors to come to the United States. Mr. Trump has imposed a travel ban and visa restrictions on 19 countries, and the State Department has announced a pilot program that would require some foreign visitors to pay bonds of up to $15,000 to secure a visa. Here's a look at what Mr. Trump's immigration crackdown means for the Olympic Games: Will there be exceptions for athletes? Yes. Athletes competing in the Olympic Games and World Cup (which the United States will host in 2026) are exempt from the travel ban. The White House has said it will allow into the country 'any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics.' Olympians typically use visas reserved for high-level athletes. Mr. Trump announced a task force on Tuesday to make sure there is a streamlined visa processing and credentialing process for foreign athletes, coaches, officials and members of the news media. Will there be exceptions for fans? No. Fans from the affected countries will have to abide by the restrictions. The State Department said people who want to come and watch the Olympic Games should apply for visas as soon as possible. 'We encourage prospective foreign travelers who will need U.S. visas to travel to the 2028 Olympics to apply early,' the statement said. The State Department noted that the travel and tourism sector contributes nearly 10 million jobs to the U.S. economy. What are the latest restrictions? Beginning on Aug. 20, the United States will begin a one-year pilot program in which travelers from Malawi or Zambia must post a bond ranging from $5,000 to $15,000, determined at the person's visa interview. The bond requirement applies to travelers eligible for a business or tourism visa, known as a B1 or B2 visa. As a condition of the bond, all visa holders from these two countries must arrive at and depart from the United States via Boston Logan International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York or Washington Dulles International Airport. The State Department says the bond will help ensure the travelers do not overstay their visas. The countries were chosen based on their high visa overstay rates, according to data compiled by the Homeland Security Department. Who is affected by the travel ban? In June, Mr. Trump barred travel to the United States by citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Mr. Trump also imposed restrictions, but stopped short of a full ban, on travel from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Fox News
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Rubio announces visa revocations on Brazilian judge for 'political witch hunt' against ex-president Bolsonaro
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on a Brazilian judge after the country's Supreme Court issued search warrants and restraining orders against former President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, his unspecified allies on the court and his immediate family members will face visa revocations, according to Rubio, who criticized what he called a "political witch hunt" against the former president. "President Trump made clear that his administration will hold accountable foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States," Rubio said in a statement. "Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes's political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil's shores to target Americans," he continued. As part of the court's orders, Bolsonaro is prohibited from contacting foreign officials, using social media or approaching embassies over allegations he sought the interference of U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the decision issued by Moraes, who cited a "concrete possibility" of him fleeing the country. Federal police raided Bolsonaro's home, and he had an ankle monitor placed on him. Trump has already attempted to pressure Brazil's officials to help Bolsonaro by announcing a 50% tariff on goods from the country from August 1 in a letter that began by criticizing Bolsonaro's trial before Brazil's Supreme Court on accusations of attempting to overturn the last election. The U.S. president has pushed Brazil to end the case against Bolsonaro, arguing that the former Brazilian leader was the victim of a "witch hunt." Bolsonaro is on trial before Brazil's Supreme Court on charges of plotting a coup to stop President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023. Bolsonaro told Reuters that he believed the orders against him were issued in response to Trump's criticism of his trial. The former president described Moraes as a "dictator" and called the latest court orders acts of "cowardice." "I feel supreme humiliation," he said about wearing the ankle monitor. "I am 70-years-old, I was president of the republic for four years." Bolsonaro denied any plans to leave the country, but said he would meet with Trump if he could obtain access to his passport, which was seized last year. He also said he had contacted the top U.S. diplomat in Brazil to discuss Trump's tariff threat. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said on Friday, citing previous comments from Trump, that "Bolsonaro and his supporters are under attack from a weaponized court system." On Thursday, Trump shared a letter he sent to Bolsonaro. "I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you. This trial should end immediately!" he wrote. Moraes said in his decision that the restrictions against Bolsonaro were because of allegations that the former president was attempting to have the "head of state of a foreign nation" interfere in Brazilian courts, which the judge called an attack on national sovereignty. The judge added that Trump's threats of higher tariffs sought to create a serious economic crisis in Brazil to interfere in the country's judicial system. Bolsonaro was also prohibited from contacting key allies, including his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman who has been working in the U.S. to gather support for his father. The former Brazilian president told Reuters he had been talking to his son almost daily and denied any concerted U.S. lobbying effort on his behalf. He said he expected his son to seek U.S. citizenship to avoid returning to Brazil. A five-judge panel of Brazilian Supreme Court judges upheld Moraes' decision.
Washington Post
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
US sanctions Cuban President Diaz-Canel and other officials for human rights violations
HAVANA — The United States government announced Friday it was sanctioning Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other top officials for human rights violations and restricting access to visas on the anniversary of the biggest protests on the island in recent decades. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media platform X that the State Department also would impose visa restrictions on Cuban judicial and prison officials 'responsible for, or complicit in, the unjust detention and torture of the July 2021 protesters.'
Russia Today
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
US slaps visa sanctions on Cuban president
The US has placed visa restrictions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, accusing Havana of human rights violations. Cuban Defense Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera and Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas have also been blacklisted. In a statement on X on Friday, Rubio accused the Communist authorities in Cuba of corruption and mentioned the 2021 anti-government protests and clashes in Havana. 'Four years since the Cuban regime's brutal crackdown on protestors, the State Department is restricting visas for Cuban regime figureheads … and their cronies for their role in the Cuban regime's brutality toward the Cuban people,' he wrote. 'The United States demands immediate proof of life and the release of all political prisoners,' Rubio added. Cuban officials have claimed that the US incited the 2021 unrest by exploiting economic hardships in order to topple the government. In May, the US imposed sanctions on three Cuban judges and a prosecutor for their role in the imprisonment of protester and activist Luis Robles. In 2025, Robles was released after serving nearly five years behind bars. The island nation has remained under a US trade blockade since the 1960s. US President Donald Trump has reversed the Obama-era attempts at normalizing relations and earlier this year reinstated Cuba to the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The Cuban Foreign Ministry has vowed to resist the US 'imperialist and interventionist' policies. 'We are free, sovereign and independent, and we are going to continue building our revolution, despite the tightening of the blockade,' Diaz-Canel said last year. Russia and China have repeatedly condemned US sanctions against Havana. In an op-ed published in Cuba's state-run newspaper Granma in May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called for the lifting of the 'illegal' economic blockade.
The National
19-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Indian travel agencies targeted by US visa bans
Some firms 'knowingly' enable illegal immigration, State Department says The US State Department on Monday announced it would impose visa restrictions on owners and officials at travel agencies based in India who knowingly enable illegal immigration to the US. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said US diplomatic staff in India are working to 'actively identify and target those engaged in facilitating illegal immigration and human smuggling and trafficking operations'. The crackdown targets travel agencies that secure visitor visas for supposed tourists who then overstay and fail to return to India. 'We will continue to take steps to impose visa restrictions against owners, executives and senior officials of travel agencies to cut off alien smuggling networks,' Ms Bruce said in a statement. Anyone who overstays a visa is at risk of being deported or faces a permanent ban from securing future visas. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump
