US Denied Tens of Thousands of Visas in 2018 Due to Trump’s Travel Ban

WASHINGTON—The State Department rejected more than 37,000 visa applications in 2018 because of the Trump administration’s travel ban, up from fewer than 1,000 the previous year, when the ban hadn’t fully taken effect, according to agency data. The United States denies almost 4 million visa applications a year for a variety of reasons, including for practicing polygamy, abducting children, or simply not qualifying for the visa in question. The data released Feb. 26 was the first comprehensive look at the effects of the ban ordered by President Donald Trump shortly after he took office, and which was initially blocked by federal courts. The ban has especially affected people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, countries where the number of visas issued slid 80 percent in 2018 from 2016, the last year without a travel ban.

Trump’s initial January 2017 executive order, banning entry to the United States by citizens of several Muslim-majority countries, launched a fierce fight in federal courts over whether the policy amounts to an unlawful “Muslim ban” or was a legal exercise of presidential power. The administration revised the policy following court challenges, and the Supreme Court allowed it to largely go into effect in December 2017 while legal challenges continued. In June 2018, the high court upheld the new version of the ban. As a result, most people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen have not been able to enter the United States for well over a year. Venezuela and North Korea also were targeted in the current policy, but those restrictions weren’t challenged in court.

The figures released show the government denied 15,384 applications for immigrant visas—given to those who want to live permanently in the United States—due to the “2017 Executive Order on Immigration.” A State Department spokeswoman confirmed that term referred to the travel ban policy. In addition, 21,645 applications for non-immigrant visas—given to people coming for short-term visits for business, tourism or other reasons—were denied due to the ban. Approximately 2,200 visa applications overcame denials based on the travel ban last year, but it was unclear how many of those applications were initially made last year or earlier. The data didn’t include how many visa applications were made by citizens from countries affected by the travel ban.

Every month, the State Department releases the numbers of visas issued to citizens of all countries, including those under the travel ban, but it doesn’t publish equivalent monthly information on the number of visa applications or denials by country. Other previously released data from the State Department shows that the number of U.S. visas issued to citizens of the countries under the travel ban has dropped drastically as a result of its implementation. In the fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2017, through Sept. 30, 2018, citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen—the five countries consistently on the travel ban list throughout its different iterations—received approximately 14,600 U.S. visas. That is down 80 percent from approximately 72,000 visas issued for citizens of those countries in fiscal year 2016, when no such ban was in place.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/state-department-denies-tens-of-thousands-of-visas-in-2018-due-to-trumps-travel-ban_2816717.html

Watchdog Files Senate Ethics Complaint Against Sen. Gillibrand

A video reaction shot of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) responding critically to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address is at the heart of a complaint filed with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT). In the video, Gillibrand is seen sighing and rolling her eyes in response to Trump’s declaration that the United States has “the hottest economy in the world.” Gillibrand tweeted the video from her personal Twitter account, asking readers if they agree with her and encouraging them to “Chip in $5 so we can put an end to this.”

Senate and House of Representatives ethics rules bar the use of any tax-funded congressional resource in any partisan campaign activity, including fund-raising. That means the tweet was illegal, according to FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold, because Gillibrand used a clip from the official House video of Trump’s address to appeal for contributions to her campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. “This is one of the most simple and straightforward ethics rules, and any violation is troubling because the Member has put politics above the law,” Arnold said in a Feb. 11 statement announcing the complaint.

In her group’s letter to the Senate ethics panel, Arnold said “Presumably, Senator Gillibrand is aware of her ethics violation because she later removed the tweet after raising funds in violation of ethics rules, all of which should be returned.” Arnold continued in the letter, noting that “in this case, Senator Gillibrand used an official resource, i.e. official House video footage of a joint session of the United States Congress, for political fundraising purposes. “The ethics rules recognize floor proceedings are official actions and video coverage are official resources, which may not be used for political purposes. “This is a straightforward violation: Senate Ethics Rules prohibit Senators from solicitating campaign contributions using official taxpayer-funded resources, regardless of whether it is House or Senate video footage.”

A spokesman for Gillibrand did not respond to multiple requests from The Epoch Times for comment, and it could not be learned if the senator or members of her staff have had any conversations with the ethics panel or if any funds received in response to the tweet have been returned to donors. The Senate panel rarely comments publicly on the status of its activities with regard to particular complaints against individual senators. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) is chairman of the ethics committee, while Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) is vice-chairman. There are four other members, including two from each party.

Gillibrand’s tweet drew a fiery response from Americans for Limited Government President Richard Manning. “Senator Gillibrand knew the rules against using video from Congress for political purposes, and chose to break them,” Manning told The Epoch Times. “Gillibrand’s political fundraising team grabbed onto what was likely a pre-planned eye-roll, which was suitable for immediately being turned into a political campaign appeal,” Manning said. Manning pointed out that nothing was done in response to a previous complaint filed with the ethics committee against Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Booker issued fund-raising emails while participating as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in September 2018. “If the Senate ethics committee follows up their refusal to sanction” Booker, Manning said “with another swing and miss on this obvious Gillibrand abuse, it will be clear that they now have two sets of rules—one for Democrats running for president and another for everyone else in the Senate.” Manning’s comments about Booker’s Kavanaugh hearing actions concerned a Sept. 12, 2018, complaint filed by another government watchdog, Judicial Watch.

Three months later, Deborah Sue Mayer, the ethics committee’s general counsel and staff director, responded in a letter to Judicial Watch, saying, “The committee carefully evaluated the allegations in the complaint and, based on all the information before it, determined that no further action is appropriate.” Although the mainstream media has ignored the FACT complaint to date, Gillibrand is certain to be asked about it in the future. The New York senator is among a dozen Democratic colleagues in the upper chamber who have announced presidential runs or who are expected to in the near future.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/watchdog-files-senate-ethics-complaint-against-sen-gillibrand_2816875.html