US President Donald Trump has issued US visa bonds for 38 countries, including Bangladesh, through which businesses and tourists in the country will have to provide financial guarantees to enter the United States. In August last year, the Trump administration first added the names of six countries to the list of countries subject to visa bonds. Later, seven more countries were added to this list. Less than a week later, the United States added the names of 25 more countries, including Bangladesh, on Tuesday.
Donald Trump has been pursuing anti-immigration politics for a long time. This move is a continuation of his politics. According to the terms of the visa bond, travelers from the relevant countries will have to pay a maximum deposit of $15,000 before entering the United States. This decision on visa bonds will especially affect those who have come as immigrants from countries like Bangladesh. The cost of doing business may also increase, because businessmen often have to travel to our main export market, the United States.
There are many different faces to this line of Trump's politics, which we are seeing. This is its latest manifestation. In his election campaign, he gave great importance to two issues. Immigration and the economy. In that vein, he took strong action against undocumented immigrants in the United States within a couple of days of coming to power. Many people were forced to leave the United States due to his harsh measures. Many Bangladeshis have already had to return home because of this, and many more will have to face the same misfortune in the future. We have seen in the media how immigrants have returned to Bangladesh, India and other countries. We have never seen the kind of arrests that have been made in various cities of the country in the history of immigration in the United States. Immediately after taking power, he immediately expelled those who were accused of committing crimes. This happened in the case of ordinary low-income people, most of whom are undocumented, who went to the country known as the Land of Opportunity in the hope of changing their fate.
A lot of highly educated people also earn a living in the United States by doing various jobs. People of different languages are working here in the corporate, IT, and business sectors. They have come to the United States from various parts of the world, including China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea, on B2 visas. In this case too, he has now added many complex conditions. As a result, it is not possible for even highly skilled people to go to the United States as they wanted before. Due to these reasons, immigrants have been in a lot of trouble, especially skilled Indian workers are now facing various adversities. Various restrictions have been imposed on the kind of facilities and benefits that green card holders used to get in the past. Now, green card holders have to fulfill the same conditions as the documents and confessions that an ordinary immigrant gives to the embassy; in some cases, they will even be obliged to give a guarantee.
In addition to these, Trump has already decided to stop issuing visas to stop immigration from several countries. The purpose of the ongoing debate is also such that immigrants are discouraged from going to the United States. The purpose of the visa bond is a pre-emptive measure to stop immigration. It should be noted that according to the new rules, all visa applicants will have to attend a physical interview at the US embassy in their own country. In addition, it has been made mandatory to provide their social media account history for the past few years and detailed information about their and their family members' previous travel and residence.
We receive the most remittances or expatriate income from the United States. During the election campaign, Trump announced that he would impose a tax on remittances. After coming to power, he implemented this decision. This was his economic calculation. Although immigration policy is not outside of it, many things are related to it.
Bangladesh will be affected in several ways by the visa bond decision. Businessmen may be able to arrange a deposit of $15,000, but it will be more difficult for ordinary citizens and those who have family members in the United States to visit. About one million Bangladeshis live in the United States. It can be said that various obstacles have been created for these one million people through the visa bond. It will also create a complicated situation for those who just want to go to the United States as tourists.
Most of those who go to the United States belong to the middle class, and from their position, this $15-18 thousand is a huge amount. Apart from that, there are travel, living and other expenses. Trump is taking action against countries that receive US government benefits. The visa bond decision is a major economic burden for Bangladeshis living in the United States and receiving government benefits. The people of Bangladesh are likely to be greatly affected by this decision.
In this situation, the Bangladesh government can take some steps. At least it can talk to the Trump government to reduce the deposit. Even if it reduces a few thousand dollars, it will be a big concession for the middle class. Apart from that, as an LDC country, Bangladesh has various agreements with the United States. The Bangladesh government has the opportunity to negotiate with the United States by utilizing that. We recently had a new agreement on customs, and taking everything into consideration, I think the exchange of views with the US government will be useful. At least, if not completely abolish the visa bond, it should be reduced. In this case, if we can highlight the positive role that a large number of Bangladeshis are playing in the US economy, then we will have an advantage in the negotiations.
The author is the President of Global Economist Forum and Editor of the Daily Industry
