Washington (CNN)PresidentDonald Trumpissued a proclamation on Friday that will bar immigrant visa applicants from entering the United States unless they can prove they will have health insurance or the means to pay for medical care.
Visa applicants will have to prove to consular officials that they will be covered by an approved health insurance within 30 days of entry into the US or possess the financial means to “pay for reasonably foreseeable medical costs.” The new requirement could make it more difficult for people – particularly ones without financial means – to immigrate to the US. It will take effect on November 3.
“Immigrants who enter this country should not further saddle our healthcare system, and subsequently American taxpayers, with higher costs,” Trump said in
Under the White House’s proclamation, accepted health insurance includes employer-sponsored and family coverage plans, unsubsidized individual health plans, and short-term plans. Medicaid or Affordable Care Act subsidies do not qualify as “approved health insurance” under the proclamation.
Exceptions to the rule include children of US citizens, unaccompanied minors , permanent residents who are returning to the US after being overseas less than a year, and “special immigrant visas” for Iraqi and Afghan nationals who worked for the US government, and their families.
Immigrants with a valid visa issued before the proclamation’s effective date are also exempt, and the proclamation does not affect refugees and asylum seekers.
Friday’s proclamation falls in line with the administration’s attempts to restrict legal immigration and reshape the legal immigrant population in the US. It’s likely to face court challenges from immigrant rights advocates, who are already decrying the proclamation.
The proclamation points to the same sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act the Trump administration has used in other efforts to restrict legal immigration, including thetravel ban.
It comes as another administration policy targeting legal immigration –the public charge rule– is set to go into effect later this month. That rule makes it more difficult for immigrants who rely on government assistance like Medicaid, subsidized housing and food stamps to obtain legal status.
When announcing the public charge rule in August, acting US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli said it will encourage “self-reliance and self-sufficiency for those seeking to come to or stay in the United States.” But Immigrant advocates have argued that the rule would discriminate against those from poorer countries, keep families apart and prompt legal residents to forgo needed public aid.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report.
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