According to reports, the Department of State (DOS) has sent a cable to diplomatic and consular posts instructing officers to ask two questions of nonimmigrant visa applicants and to refuse visa issuance if an applicant answers “yes” to either of the questions:
- Have you experienced harm or mistreatment in your country of nationality or last habitual residence?
- Do you fear harm or mistreatment in returning to your country of nationality or permanent residence?
The questions are elements of asylum determinations. The cable states that “[a]n applicant’s fear of returning to his or her country of nationality or permanent residence calls into question an applicant’s intended purpose of travel and immigrant intent at the time of visa application.”
Also, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on April 24, 2026, that President Trump’s Proclamation 10888 and related guidance, which state that “the current situation at the southern border qualifies as an invasion” and that, therefore, asylum claims at the border will be rejected, “are unlawful insofar as they circumvent Congress’s carefully crafted removal procedures and cast aside federal laws that afford individuals the opportunity to apply and be considered for a grant of asylum or withholding of removal.”
