In an average year, roughly 150,000 Russians will enter the U.S. as students, academics, pro athletes, investors, or, most common, as visitors on …
In an average year, roughly 150,000 Russians will enter the U.S. as students, academics, pro athletes, investors, or, most common, as visitors on tourism or business trips. With a stroke of the pen, President Biden and his team could shut it all down. As the U.S. searches for more leverage points against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cronies in government and business, experts say the immigration system offers a juicy target. “This is a way of sealing Russia in,” Emilio Gonzalez, a former head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, told The Washington Times. “You can’t be invading countries and then expecting to travel to other countries on vacation. If they want to go on vacation, they should go to North Korea. I hear they have wonderful beaches.” The State Department took a small step on Thursday, moving to “restrict” visas that might be issued for 19 oligarchs and 47 of their relatives and associates. But there are plenty of other juicy targets the Biden administration could go after. Travel visas for senior military leaders or the Russian diplomatic corps could be restricted in the same way oligarchs face. Thousands of visas granted to students could be blocked, and those already here could be canceled. So could visas for hundreds of Russian athletes or others high-skilled positions. Hockey fans have flooded social media sites with discussion about what would happen to the National Hockey League’s playoffs should Russian players’ visas be canceled. The most enticing target for visa restrictions, Mr.
