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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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The Trump administration is reportedly instructing U.S. consular officers to deny visas to applicants who are overweight or unable to cover the cost of long-term medical care.
Conditions listed in the guidance include obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancers, and some neurological and mental-health disorders, according to a State Department cable obtained by KFF Health News.
"It’s no secret the Trump Administration is putting the interests of the American people first. This includes enforcing policies that ensure our immigration system is not a burden on the American taxpayer," Tommy Pigott, principal deputy spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, told Newsweek.
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A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told Newsweek: “Lawful travelers have nothing to fear from these measures, which are designed to protect our nation's security. However, those intending to enter the U.S. with fraudulent purposes or malicious intent are offered the following advice: Don’t even try. If statutes or visa terms are violated, travelers may be subject to detention and removal. A visa is a privilege, not a right, and only those who respect our laws and follow the proper procedures will be welcomed.”
Why It Matters
The administration has implemented stricter measures to curb migration while carrying out highly publicized immigration arrests and large-scale deportations.
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What To Know
"You must consider an applicant’s health," the cable reads. "Certain medical conditions—including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers, diabetes, metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, and mental health conditions—can require hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of care."
The cable reportedly asks consular officers to consider whether applicants "have adequate financial resources to cover the costs of such care over his entire expected life span without seeking public cash assistance or long-term institutionalization at government expense." It also mentions evaluating dependents’ health if they might require long-term care.
The directive instructs that applicants of retirement age demonstrate they can support themselves without relying on employment income. It also directs consular officers to consider the potential costs of long-term institutional care, such as nursing-home stays, which the memo noted can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
News of the guidance has sparked widespread discussion online. Some social media users have highlighted the mention of obesity, referring to overweight applicants as "high-calorie humans," which quickly became a viral phrase.
In the United States, more than 40 percent of adults currently live with obesity, defined as a body‑mass index of 30 or above, and nearly 9 percent live with severe obesity, underscoring how large a part of the population falls into the very categories the visa guidance identifies, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
What People Are Saying
Dr. John Buse, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina, told Newsweek. "This is a slippery slope. Even for people residing in the U.S., access to health care coverage is uncertain, and coverage is often inadequate or canceled. Only billionaires would be able to reliably self-fund their lifetime medical need if they reside in the U.S., native-born or immigrant.
"If you start excluding visa applications for everyone that has a chronic health condition, that is the majority of adults, with the proportion rising asymptotically over age 30. So most of the outstanding people that we would want to work for a few years or emigrate would be excluded. And finally, I do think that this kind of guidance would be nearly impossible to implement with fidelity and adjudicate, with the exception being billionaires."
Erin Corcoran, a U.S. immigration law and policy professor at the University of Notre Dame, told The Times of London: "It’s yet another example of the way in which this current administration is trying to make it much harder to come here either temporarily or to remain here by targeting public-health issues. I think it’s also an attempt to try to paint immigrants as somehow unhealthy or that they’re going to cause harm to our country, which there’s no evidence to suggest that that is the case."
Barry M. Popkin, W. R. Kenan, Jr. distinguished professor, Gillings School of Global Public Health, told Newsweek: First, Hispanics and Middle Eastern individuals and South Asians have the highest diabetes profile for lower BMIs in even the 23-25 level, let alone when overweight or obese. As a result, this option hits these minority groups hardest. At the same time, many of those applying for visas do not know if they are diabetic or have a heart condition. Even if they are well educated, but young. So, this is a quite imperfect regulation.
"Second, this appears more to be another way to reduce the immigration community, particularly in the nationalities of Central Americans and South Americans on the Andean side of the continent where the possession of Indian blood seems to be a component of this increased abdominal fat and higher risk of diabetes. This is the same for all the nationalities I noted above—for a given BMI they have much more visceral fat—which is the fat around the heart and liver that enhances risks of these conditions."
Former Congressman Matt Gaetz wrote in a post on X: "Did Trump just put a 'hotties only' sign on the US? Golden Age indeed."
Political analyst Brandon Weichert wrote in a post on X: "Don't worry. After Trump ensures the Republicans lose in 2026 and 2028, we'll all be considered 'high calorie humans' by our Leftist Overlords."
What Happens Next
While the "high-calorie human" jokes have drawn attention, the State Department says that the policy aims to ensure applicants can support their own medical care and avoid reliance on U.S. taxpayers.
Update 11/11/25, 2:40 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson.
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