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Trump Administration Announces New National Vetting Center

14 Feb

On Tuesday, February 6, 2018, the Trump Administration announced the creation of a new National Vetting Center which will be charged with coordinating efforts to determine whether travelers to the United States pose a threat to national security or public safety.

Applicants for admission to the United States are already vetted for potential grounds of inadmissibility, including the potential for threat to national security or public safety, but the Administration has found the current vetting process to be “ad hoc,” and has determined that they impede the ability of the United States to manage security threats.

It is unclear whether the new National Vetting Center will impose additional steps in the vetting process that might be visible to applicants, or whether the coordination of vetting processes would occur largely behind the scenes by way of communication between and among U.S. government agencies.  Also unclear is whether the new Center’s efforts will slow the vetting process and thereby lengthen the process for securing nonimmigrant and immigrant visas to enter the United States, or delay the approval of petitions and applications by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services.