Stop issuing visas to Indians: US senator

A top American senator has asked the Obama Administration to discontinue issuing immigrant and non-immigrant visas to citizens from 23 countries, including India and China, while alleging that these countries are non-cooperative in taking back illegal immigrants from the US.

“Dangerous criminals, including murderers, are being released every day because their home countries will not cooperate in taking them back,” Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said in a letter to homeland security secretary Jeh Johnson.

In fiscal 2015 alone, 2,166 individuals were released in the US because of this decision and the non-cooperation of recalcitrant countries; more than 6,100 were released in the preceding two years, Mr Grassley, who is Senate judiciary committee chairman, said. Currently, 23 countries are labelled by the US as uncooperative, with the top five most recalcitrant being Cuba, China, Somalia, India and Ghana, Mr Grassley said.

US immigrations and customs enforcement is monitoring 62 nations where cooperation is strained, but which are not yet deemed recalcitrant.