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New Visa Rules Set Off 'Panic Wave' in Immigrant Communities

Associated Press

   BOSTON - After nearly a dozen years moving through the U.S. visa
   system, Sai Kyaw's brother and sister and their families were at the
   finish line: a final interview before they could leave Myanmar to join
   him in Massachusetts and work at his restaurant.

   Then a dramatic turn in U.S. immigration policy halted their plans. The
   interview was postponed, and it's not clear when, or whether, it will
   be rescheduled.

   "It's terrible," Kyaw said. "There's nothing we can really do except
   pray. They've been waiting 12 years. If they have to wait another 12
   years, they will."

   His is just one of many stories of confusion, sorrow and outrage
   spreading across some immigrant communities after the announcement of a
   Trump administration policy that is expected to all but shut down
   family-based immigration from Myanmar, also known as Burma, as well as
   Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan and Eritrea. The policy also restricts visas from
   Sudan and Tanzania.

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