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Trump Admin Enacts ‘Extreme Vetting’ For Certain Immigrants

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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A new visa application implemented by the State Department works to fulfill President Trump’s goal of “extreme vetting.”

The application, which will expire in six months, requires potential immigrants or visitors to give 15 years of biographical information and five years worth of social media accounts. It also asks for travel history for the past 15 years, and phone numbers and email addresses used during the past five years.

A posting in the Federal Register says it implements a directive of President Trump’s to ensure “the proper collection of all information necessary to rigorously evaluate all grounds of inadmissibility or deportability, or grounds for the denial of other immigration benefits.” Reuters reported that the new application was approved on May 23.

It will apply to visa applicants “who have been determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibilities.” The government estimates that 0.5 percent, or around 65,000 visa applicants, annually will fit this “threat profile.”