It has been a while since I have posted both b/c I thought I had most things covered in the areas that I had some level of expertise and experience and also because things just get busy. However our new excuse for a President has changed a lot of things all for the worse, no matter which side of the immigration spectrum you fall on.

So if you are a tourist on visa waiver program (ESTA), if you are current non-immigrant worker on the E-3 or H-1B visa, if you are an undocumented immigrant, a refugee, a permanent resident with a Green Card, a student or work and travel person on J-1 visa, someone looking to marry a US citizen or even an immigrant US citizen who is from a certain group of countries, your life has been immediately made either worse or has the strong potential to be very soon.

The main reason we are in this predicament is largely because of racism, ignorance and apathy. This is not just limited to the bigots or the folks that are selfish and just care about themselves over basic human dignity and rights of others, it is also includes many progressive liberals who otherwise are pro-immigration and helping the downtrodden. This group who stayed home or voted 3rd party on election day 2016 are just as much to blame for the US Immigration mess we are all in as the bigots.

Hell even native born US citizens who like to travel or happen to have family who live in certain countries or have friends or family who just like to travel and explore the world are also at risk.

So what are all these changes?

Well largely these have come about with vague (although strongly worded) executive orders that put moratoriums on entry for certain nationals, likely make the assessment of non-immigrant visa petitions of the upcoming H-1B season far more strict and prejudiced with interpretations and even will potentially add fees and interviews to tourists from countries like the UK and Australia.

The reason why I say vague is because these are not laws (yet) but interpretations that could result in different decision making and other actions from rank and file USCIS officials at the border, state department employees in consulates and embassies around the world and thousands of workers across immigration centers around the US. I am sure the Diversity Visa Lottery (aka the Green Card Lottery) will be targeted as well.

Ultimately it could mean some people may face no effect but that a permanent resident returning home from a vacation home to family (or worse traveling b/c of a loved one’s death) is barred from boarding their flight home back to US or blocked / interrogated at the border. USCIS officials at the best of times are known in pockets to be very heavy handed to people entering the country and the Trump administration has now given those folks air cover to act like Nazi officers.

As more concrete information comes to add and real experiences from the field, I will likely now post more so stay tuned. In the meantime, stand up with your fellow rational US citizens and fight back in whatever way makes sense in your circumstance. The tyranny of Trump does not just have the potential to destroy the US but take the world with it. This is a pivotal moment in history and we all have a role to rise up as this young man did on the amazing day of Women’s Marches around the world.