The U.S. government granted waivers to just 6 percent of visa applicants subject...
WASHINGTON - The U.S. government granted waivers to just 6 percent of visa applicants subject to its travel ban on a handful of countries during the first 11 months of the ban, new data reviewed by Reuters shows.
In June 2018, after legal challenges defeated earlier iterations of the ban, the Supreme Court upheld a revised version and wrote in its majority opinion that the waiver program supported the government’s claims that the ban served “a legitimate national security interest.” They determined that just 6 percent - or 2,216 applicants - met the criteria for a waiver. Of those, 670 had not yet received their visas but were expected to do so.
The latest data show a slight increase in the waiver issuance rate. Data from December 2017 through April 2018 showed that waivers were issued in 2 percent of visa applications filed by people subject to the travel ban.The ban’s restrictions vary from country to country - Somalis, for instance, can receive short-term visas and Iranians are allowed to get student visas, while North Koreans are blocked from all visas.
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