The State Department under Donald Trump’s administration has released new guidelines suggesting that individuals with obesity should be denied immigrant visas to the United States.
This guideline is part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration aimed at restricting certain types of immigration. The directive categorizes obesity among several medical conditions that could incur significant healthcare costs.
The specified medical conditions include cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, various cancers, diabetes, metabolic disorders, neurological diseases, and mental-health issues, alongside obesity.
Officials are instructed to evaluate whether visa applicants possess the financial means to cover their medical expenses throughout their expected lifetime without resorting to public assistance or requiring long-term institutional care funded by the government.
Health experts have pointed out that being overweight is often linked to health issues such as asthma, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure.
These conditions, experts argue, can necessitate costly medical care, potentially imposing a financial burden on the U.S. healthcare system.
‘It’s no secret the Trump administration is putting the interests of the American people first,’ spokesperson Tommy Pigott told the Daily Mail, confirming the legitimacy of the directive.
‘This includes enforcing policies that ensure our immigration system is not a burden on the American taxpayer.’
Donald Trump’s State Department has issued guidance recommending that overweight people be denied visas to enter the United States
The directive, part of several the Trump administration have floated to crackdown on unwanted travel to the US, names obesity as part of several medical conditions that could come at an expense
The directive is about immigrant visas, not non-immigrant b-2 visas for those who can support their medical treatments and are going back to their home country, a State Department official said.
The State Department has made multiple moves to beef up standards for those trying to obtain work visas in the US since Trump returned to the White House.
Washington has imposed a $100,000-a-year fee to H-1B visas for skilled workers.
H-1B visas, which require at least a bachelor’s degree to obtain, are designed for high-skilled jobs which companies are struggling to fill.
While critics have argued that the visa is damaging to the American workforce, its supporters, including Elon Musk, have claimed that it is vital for attracting high-skilled global talent.
Trump’s new order, signed on Friday, will only be applicable for new visa requests, with the annual payment for each applicant required by companies for up to six years.
A separate order signed by the president saw the introduction of a new ‘gold card’ designed to help fast-track certain visas for those willing to ‘make a significant financial gift.’
Up to 80,000 ‘highly valuable’ gold cards are set to be readily available, with the program currently in its ‘implementation phase’, according to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The State Department has made multiple moves to beef up standards for those trying to obtain work visas in the US since Trump returned to the White House
At present, H-1B visas come with a number of administrative fees that come to an estimated total of $1,500. Lutnick insisted that he had ‘spoken’ with all of the big companies and that they ‘are on board’ with the new mandatory payment.
Explaining the new policy, Trump said: ‘The main thing is, we’re going to have great people coming in, and they’re going to be paying.’
Trump has had the H-1B program in his sights since his first term in office, however he faced several court challenges to his earlier approach, which targeted the types of jobs that qualify.
During his first term as president, Trump unveiled a ‘Hire American’ policy that directed changes to the program to try to ensure the visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants.
In December, the president appeared to temporarily U-turn on his views, siding with technology bosses in support of the visa and telling the New York post he has ‘always liked the visas.’
‘I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,’ Trump said at the time.
However, he has previously branded the visa as ‘very bad’ and ‘unfair’ for US workers.
The US currently awards 85,000 H-1B visas annually on a lottery system, with India understood to account for around three-quarters of these recipients.
Trump signed an executive order in September imposing a $100,000-a-year fee to H-1B visas for skilled workers. A separate order signed by the president saw the introduction of a new ‘gold card’ designed to help fast-track certain visas for those willing to ‘make a significant financial gift.’
Data obtained by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicated that applications for the immigration visa for the upcoming fiscal year fell to around 359,000, the lowest figure in four years.
Trump has also imposed a full ban on nationals from 12 countries, and partial restrictions for visitors from another seven countries earlier this month as part of an ongoing effort to rid the United States of foreign threats and secure the borders.
Nationals of Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen were barred from entering the United States from June 9.
Citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela are partially restricted from traveling under the order, removing access to all immigrant visas and several non-immigrant travel options.
‘We don’t want ’em,’ Trump said bluntly in a video released shortly after the ban was announced.
‘Very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen.’
White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson wrote on X: ‘President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm.
‘These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information.
‘President Trump will ALWAYS act in the best of interest of the American people and their safety.’
This directive is part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched at the start of his second term, which has included deporting hundreds of Venezuelans suspected of being gang members.
He has also set about barring Harvard from admitting foreign students and cracked down on antisemitism on campus, seeking to deport students who have been active participants in on campus protests.
‘We are constantly reevaluating policies to ensure the safety of Americans and that foreign nationals follow our laws,’ a senior State Department official said, declining to comment on specific internal deliberations and communications.
‘The Department of State is committed to protecting our nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,’ the official said.
During his first term in office, Trump announced a ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.
Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed the ban in 2021, calling it ‘a stain on our national conscience.’
But Trump touted the successes of his initial 2017 travel bans in a proclamation earlier this year.
