Trump moves to lift visa restrictions for Argentina in boost to right-wing ally

San Francisco Chronicle​

7 days ago

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The United States and Argentina on Monday announced that they are working on a plan to allow Argentine tourists to again travel to the U.S. without a visa.
It will likely take two to three years before visa-free travel becomes a reality for Argentine passport holders, but the Trump administration's move to kickstart the process marked a show of support for President Javier Milei, its staunchest ally in South America and a darling of conservatives around the world.
The gesture coincided with a visit by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to Buenos Aires for closed-door meetings with Milei and his officials. Noem signed the statement of intent alongside Security Minister Patricia Bullrich in Milei's office.
The Department of Homeland Security praised Milei for reshaping Argentina's foreign policy in line with the U.S.
'Under President Javier Milei's leadership, Argentina is becoming an even stronger friend to the United States — more committed than ever to border security for both of our nations,' the statement quoted Noem as saying.
This first step toward Argentina's entry into the Visa Waiver Program, it added, 'highlights our strong partnership with Argentina and our mutual desire to promote lawful travel while deterring threats."
The department cited Argentina as having the lowest visa overstay rate in the U.S. of any Latin American country.
Trump's loyal ally in South America
The removal of rigorous U.S. visa requirements — particularly at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is tightening restrictions for foreign nationals — would offer a symbolic victory to Milei, a self-described 'anarcho-capitalist' who rose to power as a far-right outsider mimicking Trump's war-on-woke rhetoric and skillful use of social media.
When he became the first world leader to visit Trump after the U.S. election, Milei pranced around Mar-a-Lago like an excited school boy.
At the Conservative Political Action Committee convention in Washington last February, he gifted billionaire Elon Musk a bureaucracy-slashing chainsaw to support his DOGE campaign to eliminate government waste.
When not riding the far-right, pro-Trump speaking circuit, Milei is focused on straightening out South America's second-largest economy after years of turmoil under left-wing populist rule. Through tough budget cuts and mass layoffs, Milei has succeeded in driving down Argentina's notorious double-digit inflation.
The last time Argentines didn't require a visa to enter the U.S. was in the 1990s under another free-market devotee, the late former President Carlos Menem.
Menem's neo-liberal reforms and pegging of the peso 1-to-1 to the U.S. dollar destroyed Argentina's industry, exacerbating poverty in what a century ago was one of the world's wealthiest countries.
In the crisis that followed, the U.S. reimposed visa restrictions in 2002 as young Argentines seeking to flee misery lined up at European embassies and began to migrate illegally to the U.S.
The Argentine presidency described Monday's preliminary agreement as 'a clear demonstration of the excellent relationship' between Milei and Trump.
'This bilateral link is not limited to the commercial or economic sphere, but constitutes a strategic and comprehensive relationship based on a shared vision,' the presidency added.
Noem, who grew up on a farm in rural South Dakota, later Monday toured a military base on horseback and enjoyed asado — Argentina's traditional meat-centric barbecue and national passion.
She is the third member of Trump's Cabinet to meet Milei in Buenos Aires so far this year, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Tough limits on travel to Trump's America
Over 40 mostly European and wealthy Asian countries belong to the exclusive club that allows their citizens to travel to the U.S. without a visa for up to three months. However, border officers have the power to turn anyone away.
About 20 million tourists use the program each year. Currently, Chile is the only Latin American country in the program.
Overseas travel to the U.S. plunged in the early days of Trump's return to the White House as tourists, especially from Latin America, feared being caught in the administration's border crackdown. Some canceled travel plans to protest his foreign policy and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
But those numbers began to rebound in April, with more than 3 million international arrivals — 8% more than a year ago — from countries other than Mexico or Canada, according to the International Trade Administration, an agency under the U.S. Department of Commerce.
In addition to clamping down on the southern border, Trump has put up additional obstacles for students, tourists and others looking to travel to the U.S.
His recently passed 'big, beautiful' bill of domestic priorities calls for the enactment of a new 'visa integrity fee' of $250 to be charged in addition to the cost of the visa itself.
Travel industry executives have expressed concern that the charge could drive away tourists who contribute more than $2 trillion annually and 9 million jobs to the U.S. economy, according to the International Trade Administration.
About a quarter of all travelers to the U.S. come from Latin America and the Caribbean, the agency says.
Arrivals from Argentina have jumped 25% this year — a bigger increase than from any other country.
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