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When people from around the world apply for a US visa, they are asked to submit a variety of documents. Applicants are asked to submit a medical record showing proof that there is no infectious disease, which the applicant might carry and can infect the American people after arriving in the United States. The idea is not only to protect the American people from harm that the foreigner might bring with him/her but also to allow the incoming immigrant to live as healthy as the people already living in America.
Another thing that the visa applicants are asked to do is to provide proof of funds, meaning the ability of the applicant to afford the intended stay in the US. The rationale behind that is that the incoming immigrant should he get the visa may not become a burden on the American economy by looking for ways and means to obtain money from within America such as by finding employment where he or she might be paid in the form of cash only. Such a practice not only deprives the American citizens from the work that the immigrant jumps on but also deprives the country’s treasury of the income tax.
For students who apply for study visas, one of the main requirements is the ability to speak English. The rationale is that the foreign students must be able to communicate in and understand the language that the Americans speak. They should talk like Americans do. Lately, President Trump and his racist cohorts have extended that idea beyond that point and have started requiring all those aspiring to become residents or citizens in America to be able to speak English. The main argument is that the foreigners must not bring their culture with them so much as they should adopt the local American culture where they should assimilate into this society and speak English language and wear American dress, which actually is shorts, T-shirt and sneakers with lights in them.
And here is the latest requirement that Trump has announced recently for those who wish to enter the land of opportunities: travellers from a select number of countries, the ones with visa waiver programme that are 42 countries, must show 5-year history of social media usage to screen them for any behaviour that might be critical toward America, the Jews, or other rhetoric that might hint at having extremist tendencies. If the past is prologue, then we should know that pretty soon this requirement would be extended to every country, especially the poorer nations.
Many are criticising it as a move that could hurt America economically as many travellers and investors would just decide not to come to America to avoid the humiliation. However, I see the harm for America in a different manner. The bedrock of American democracy is free speech that its citizens enjoy. While incoming travellers or immigrants are asked to submit proof of the ability to speak the language that Americans speak but they are asked not to talk like the Americans do. You must learn the language, but not the speech. That is like saying you must learn how to drive but don’t dare driving on American streets and freeways.
In a normal America, immigrants would be asked to provide proof of their ability to use free speech and indulge in rhetoric criticising the wrong they saw anywhere so that they could live the same free speech lifestyle that the Americans enjoy in America. Instead Trump asks the immigrants to show proof of their cowardice so that they can bring this trait with them to American society. They say immigrants always add value to the American way of life by bringing important ideas from their culture. This will encourage the immigrants to teach silence and timidity to American society. Before long, America may no longer be the home of the brave but rather the marketplace of cowards.
