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The State Department of the United States issued a diplomatic cable addressed to all embassies and consulates worldwide, instructing them to deny non-immigrant visas to any applicant who admits to fearing harm or persecution upon returning to their country of origin, as confirmed CNN after reviewing the document.
The directive, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, applies to all categories of temporary visas: tourism (B-1/B-2), studies (F, M, J), and exchange and temporary work, and it came into effect immediately on Wednesday, April 29.
Under the new regulation, consular officials must verbally ask each applicant two questions: "Have you experienced harm or mistreatment in your country of nationality or last habitual residence?" and "Do you fear harm or mistreatment if you return to your country of nationality or permanent residence?".
The cable is explicit: "Visa applicants must verbally respond with a 'no' to both questions for the consular officer to proceed with the issuance of the visa."
If the applicant answers "yes" to either of the two questions, the visa is immediately denied, with no possibility of appeal at the consulate.
The Trump administration justifies the measure as a mechanism to prevent "abuse of the asylum system."
The cable states that "consular officers must prevent the abuse of the immigration system by visa applicants who misrepresent their travel purpose, including those who seek non-immigrant visas in order to apply for asylum upon arrival in the United States."
A spokesperson for the State Department added that “consular officers are the first line of defense for U.S. national security.”
The measure potentially affects nearly 11 million non-immigrant visas issued in the fiscal year 2024.
Legal experts warn that the directive places applicants in a serious legal dilemma: answering honestly results in an immediate visa denial, while denying fear to obtain it could constitute a false statement to a federal official, leading to a permanent ban on entry into the United States.
The immigration policy consultant Camille Mackler warned CNN that the new directive "will put people in very bad and terrible positions, forcing them to make decisions that affect their safety and that of their families."
He added that "this pushes people towards unsafe routes and paths, because if you need to leave, you go and do whatever it takes to make it happen."
The measure also arises in response to recent judicial setbacks. This past Monday, a federal court ordered the reopening of the border for asylum applications, and the DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump's attempt to use a declaration of "invasion" to suspend the right to asylum at the southern border.
This directive is part of a series of immigration restrictions implemented since January 2025, including the suspension of immigrant visa processing for 75 countries and the drop in the national asylum approval rate from 50% to 7%.
On that same Wednesday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ordered a general halt on all immigration processes —including residency cards, naturalization, DACA, TPS, and asylum— to implement new FBI security checks, a measure that directly impacts Cubans seeking to leave the Island through legal means.
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