WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has proposed a new method to “punish” so-called recalcitrant countries, those who refuse to take back illegal immigrants, including India — he thinks the further issuance of any sort of green card or visa to these nations should be halted.
His proposal would cover green cards, H-1B, F-1 and student and visitor visas, as well.
Grassley’s proposal, however, is to some degree more tame than that of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has publicly voiced a ban on visas for any and all nations who have links to known terrorism. Regardless, Grassley’s proposal presents itself as controversial since India is one of the key allies to the U.S.
Grassley wants to discontinue the issuance of immigrant and non-immigrant visas to 23 countries, including India and China. He’s alleged both nations have been uncooperative in taking back illegal immigrants.
“Dangerous criminals, including murderers, are being released every day because their home countries will not cooperate in taking them back,” Grassley wrote in a letter to the Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
In fiscal year 2015, 2,166 people were released in the U.S. because of recalcitrant countries who refused to take back their nationals, Grassley, the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, said. More than 6,000 have been released in the preceding two years, he added.
The top five recalcitrant countries are Cuba, China, Somalia, India, and Ghana, Grassley said. In addition, U.S. Immigration and Customs are monitoring 62 countries where cooperation is strained, but have not yet been deemed as recalcitrant.
In the letter to Johnson, Grassley reminded him that Congress addressed this problem when it enacted section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“Under section 243(d), the Secretary of State is required to discontinue granting immigrant or non-immigrant visas to a country upon receiving notice from you that the country has denied or is unreasonably delaying accepting a citizen, subject, national or resident of that country,” he said.
He added: “This tool has been used only once, in the case of Guyana in 2001, where it had an immediate effect, resulting in obtaining cooperation from Guyana within two months.”