Hours after a vehicle, driven by an Uzbek Immigrant, plowed through pedestrians on a bike path along the Hudson River in New York killing 8 people and injuring scores of others, US President Donald Trump ordered further intensification of background checks - a process he calls extreme vetting - before giving visas.
Trump, who made clampdown on immigration the mainstay of his election campaign, didn't specify the "vetting programme" he was referring to, neither did he mention how his Tuesday order was going to change an-already in-place programme.
The President took to Twitter announcing that he had ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program.
"I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!" Trump said, hours after a man driving a pickup truck killed eight people.
The Washington Post reported that it appeared that the US President was probably alluding to vetting programs for foreign nationals, and not to his controversial travel ban, banning travelers from six Muslim-majority countries.
Trump's Wednesday order could result in long "in-person interviews and searches of an expanded database of identity documents or longer application forms."
Here's what Donald Trump's Wednesday order means:
What is vetting?
It involves a background check on an individual, and can involve a variety of checks by US authorities.
References may be needed to confirm a person’s character and employment history.
Usually, the information is gleaned from a computerized database.
The information may be reviewed during a loan application.
When do people get vetted in the US?
When an individual applies for a credit card or for the renewal of a driving licence.
Some employers may require pre-screening ahead of making an employment offer.
Background checks may be conducted at the start of a contract
What is extreme vetting?
Tourists from Britain and other countries visiting the US could be forced to reveal mobile phone contacts, social media passwords and financial data under “extreme vetting” practices. It applies to 38 countries, including the UK, France, Australia and Japan.
Travellers, who want to enter the US, may face questioning over their ideology, too.
“Extreme vetting” of foreigners seeks to combat terrorism --- it was a major theme of Donald Trump’s presidential election campaign.
Extreme vetting requires non-American citizens to hand over their phones to help officials study their stored contacts and other information.
Applicants have to disclose their social media handles and passwords so that officials could glean information posted privately in addition to public posts.
The US issued more than 10 million visas in 2016.
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