Marco Rubio thinks fat immigrants are dragging us down

The Trump administration is considering chronic health factors like obesity as reasons to deny visas to immigrants.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed U.S. embassies and consulates across the globe to consider obesity and other health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, as reasons to deny visas to foreign nationals, according to a November cable first obtained by The Washington Post. The directive is the latest move by the Trump administration to block immigration from foreigners who would likely be dependent on government welfare.

“It’s no secret the Trump Administration is putting the interests of the American people first,” State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“This includes enforcing policies that ensure our immigration system is not a burden on the American taxpayer,” Pigott continued.

Rubio’s directive pertains to immigrant visas, not non-immigrant visas for individuals who are capable of supporting their own medical treatments and will only be residing in the U.S. temporarily.

“You must consider an applicant’s health,” the State Department stated in the directive, which was dated on Nov. 6. “Certain medical conditions — including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions — can require hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of care.”

The White House has long argued that it’s protecting American taxpayers from immigrants who cannot cover their own medical costs and expect the U.S. government to financially support them. Federal agencies have since cracked down on immigrant welfare queens and the individuals who’ve sponsored them in the U.S.

American citizens who sponsor migrants that end up using taxpayer-funded benefits like food stamps or housing assistance will be held financially liable and could even face criminal charges, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) memo declared in September.

USCIS revealed earlier in September that it would begin to more heavily weed out green card applicants who’ve obtained welfare or other taxpayer-funded government services, meaning migrants on welfare should not expect to be on a pathway to citizenship. In August, the agency announced it would not just consider a foreign national’s absence of misconduct during their citizenship application process, but also weigh their “positive attributes” to the community.

“For 100 years, State Department policy has included an authority to deny visa applicants who would pose a financial burden to taxpayers, such as individuals who were seeking publicly-funded health care in the United States and could further drain healthcare resources from American citizens,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly stated Thursday to the DCNF.

“President Trump’s Administration is finally fully enforcing this policy, and putting Americans first,” Kelly continued.

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