US couples with a noncitizen partner: did you decide to get married because of immigration policy concerns?
Since the month Trump was re-elected in November 2024, the New York City marriage bureau recorded a 33% increase in marriage license applications, the City first reported.
Although it's hard to say how many unmarried transnational couples there are in the US, in 2021, 12.4% of all married couples included a foreign spouse, the highest percentage on record.
If you're part of a couple with a foreign-born partner whom you're not yet married to or whom you recently wed, we'd like to hear from you.
You can share your experiences of getting married as a transnational couple in the US using this form.
Please include as much detail as possible.
Please include as much detail as possible.
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Scotsman
4 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Why Donald Trump's visit was a good thing for Police Scotland
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Well, well, despite all the scare stories, Donald Trump's four-day visit went exactly as planned. Contrary to the dire predictions of some, our policing system was not brought to its knees by a long weekend's work. If our community policing model could just survive the year of extractions caused by the 84/85 Miners Strike, it could surely withstand the extra demands of four days. It was, however, a tricky operation, with more than two venues and a lot of outside exposure for a president who has recently survived two assassination attempts, and appears to be 'catnip' for extremists. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But now that Air Force One is well away and the pointless placards put away 'til next time, we can safely reflect on the fact that the presidential visit has actually benefited our police service. Let me explain. READ MORE: Deer put down after being hit by police car in Aberdeenshire ahead of Trump visit Police Scotland officers guard the Trump Turnberry golf course ahead of Donald Trump's arrival in Scotland (Picture: Christopher Furlong) | Getty Images Ensuring match fitness Police Scotland, whether in its recent national incarceration or its old constituent forces, had a well-deserved reputation for the professional handling of major events. Next to London, Edinburgh had more major and royal events than any other city in the UK. The west of Scotland was also highly experienced. The continuous exposure to the ritual hate fest which is 'Old Firm' football ensures that police in and around Glasgow always knew how to control hostile crowds. But experience has a shelf-life and the preparedness of police forces to deal with complex and major events depends on 'match fitness'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The last truly major event in Scotland was the initial phase of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth in 2022, and, while it was logistically tricky, there was very little real threat. You have to go back to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow the previous year to find a major event that tested all aspects of police planning and operations. But that was four years ago, and things change quickly at the top of policing. Almost all the senior officers involved in COP26 have now moved on and been replaced by officers, who though able have not actually been in the hot seat. For you can plan all you like, run exercises all day long, but there is no substitute for the real thing. Regardless of contingencies, things go wrong as soon as real people become involved. Small mistakes can turn into big problems, and before you know it you are reacting to incidents rather than driving the operation. Trump's habit of going 'off script' In the case of President Trump's visit, there were good points and bad. It was not a state visit with high-risk public processions in crowded streets. On the other hand, golf links, while remote, are vast open spaces and difficult to protect. Transport routes were also tricky, with lots of minor roads to be protected from disruption. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And the US Secret Service would have been on edge, with the recent assassination attempts and their president's habit of impromptu 'off-script' behaviour adding to the tension. But in the end, it all came good, as I was sure it would. The plan worked, and all the little things that went wrong were sorted quickly and without fuss. So congratulations to the event 'Gold Commander', Assistant Chief Emma Bond, and all her team. Another big job well done, lessons learned and valuable experience banked.
BBC News
5 minutes ago
- BBC News
US govment list wetin foreign students go do to make dem lose dia visa and future eligibility
Di govment of di United States of America don cut warning give international students say dem fit cancel dia students visa if dem leave dia program of study and dem no tell dia school. US govment say any student wey dey study for dia kontri and dem miss class witout informing dia school, dem go cancel dia future visa eligibility. Dis na according to di new announcement by di US Mission for Nigeria on Monday 4 August 2025. Dis dey come as di US say dia reduction in validity na part of ongoing global review of di use of US visas by oda kontris. "If you drop out, skip classes, or comot your program of study wey you no inform your school, your student visa fit dey cancelled. "You fit lose eligibility for future U.S. visas," US Mission for Nigeria tok for dia X post. Dem warn students make dem obey di terms of visa and maintain dia student status so dem no go get any issues. Recently di United States Mission for Nigeria for one statement bin announce sweeping changes to dia non-immigrant visa policy for Nigeria, wey reduce di duration and conditions under wey most Nigerian travellers go fit enta America. For years, di US dey issue Nigerians wit 5-year visitor visas and 2-year student visas, even though Nigeria dey only offer single-entry visas valid for three months only for those wey dey plan to visit di kontri from US. Also, di US don previously tok say Nigerians and oda foreigners wey dey plan or already dey U.S, make dem no overstay dia visa ro dem go face serious wahal. "If you remain for di United States beyond your authorized period of stay, you fit be deported and fit face a permanent ban on traveling to di United States for di future" di Embassy take tok. Meanwhile, di Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) tell Nigerians make dem use dia U.S. visas responsibly and make dem no pass dia boundary. Di tok tok pesin for di Nigeria immigration, Akinsola Akinlabi, say Nigerians wey dey hold U.S. visas gatz obey di terms and conditions under wey dia visas dey granted. "Make all visa holders dey advised to strictly keep to di purpose wey dey stated for dia visa applications." "U.S. authorities dey conduct security screening beyond di initial point of entry into di kontri. Any breach of immigration or oda laws fit lead to visa revocation or deportation." All dis warning na for anybodi wey dey plan go America weda na for school, business, waka, or any oda reason, to dey careful and obey wetin dey dia visa application. Why US fit cancel your visa
The Independent
33 minutes ago
- The Independent
The Trump administration is using ‘fascist propaganda' to promote its mass deportation campaign, experts say
The Department of Homeland Security is accused of sharing thinly-veiled nativist propaganda on social media through art as it pursues a sweeping campaign of mass deportations. Throughout July, the X account of the department run by Kristi Noem posted a steady stream of paintings exemplifying a very particular version of the 'homeland.' That has included posting the 1872 work American Progress by John Gast, in which an ethereal Lady Liberty floats above the Western landscape, as white settlers advance across the frame with stage coaches and rail lines, while Native Americans and buffalo run to the margins. Another X post features the contemporary painting A Prayer for a New Life, by Morgan Weistling, a close-up of a white pioneer couple clutching a baby in the back of a covered wagon, along with the caption, ' Remember your Homeland's Heritage.' A third such post includes Morning Pledge, a nostalgic mid-20th century scene of kids in a small town walking towards an American flag, as painted by Thomas Kinkade. The creators and guardians of these works have expressed outrage over being drafted into DHS publicity — and history and politics experts have also raised concerns over this art being used as 'propaganda'. Weistling said he wasn't consulted prior to the Trump administration using his work. The Kinkade Family Foundation, meanwhile, said Morning Pledge was also being used without permission, perverted to 'promote division and xenophobia associated with the ideals of DHS.' The foundation told The Independent that Kinkade, who died in 2012, struggled in life with poverty as a child and substance abuse as an adult. He viewed his paintings, known for their soft, glowing light, as a way to 'imagine a different kind of world, where warmth, safety, and belonging are human rights for all.' Beyond the canvas, Kinkade helped raise millions for the poor, while his foundation has handed out thousands of therapeutic art kits, including in farmworker communities. 'That vision wasn't meant for a select few, but for everyone,' the foundation said in an email. 'Throughout his life, Thomas sought to respond to moments of hardship with compassion and solidarity, standing with communities made vulnerable.T o see his work used in ways that promote exclusion and division betrays the very heart of what he stood for.' The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the agency 'honors artwork that celebrates America's heritage and history, and we are pleased that the media is highlighting our efforts to showcase these patriotic pieces.' 'If the media needs a history lesson on the brave men and women who blazed the trails and forged this Republic from the sweat of their brow, we are happy to send them a history textbook,' Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the statement. 'This administration is unapologetically proud of American history and American heritage.' According to Richard White, a distinguished historian of the West and professor emeritus at Stanford University, DHS's use of works like American Progress is as ironic as it is revealing. The painting depicted a highly nostalgic, mythologized version of the country even at the moment it was created. In reality, instead of the peaceful scene, violence was everywhere, with the U.S. Army (not pictured in the painting) involved in violent, dispossessing wars with indigenous tribes across the West, and groups like the KKK carrying out racist terror campaigns against newly emancipated Black people after the U.S. Civil War. 'It's not about history,' White said of American Progress, but rather a 'mythic narrative' of America. 'The original picture erased the reality around it.' White suspects the Trump administration is using the painting now for a similar purpose. The historian lives in Los Angeles, where masked federal immigration agents and military troops spent weeks conducting dragnet immigration operations, an effort he compares to the Nazi regime's Gestapo secret police. 'The real problem is what's actually happening on the streets of Los Angeles and other cities,' he said. Journalist Spencer Ackerman, author of Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump, sees similar far-right currents in DHS's images, strains of nativism he argues have existed just below the surface at the department since its founding in 2002 after the 9/11 terror attacks. 'It was definitely a crypto-right wing move from the start after 9/11 to use a word like 'homeland' in particular in the context of security,' he told The Independent. Prior to this point, he said, the term 'homeland' was not in mainstream use in this way in the U.S. It had the ring of European-style nationalism (and worse) back then, a poor fit for a pluralist democracy in which most of the population, at some point in history, came from somewhere else. Trump's DHS, however, has taken this implicit ideology to the explicit extreme, Ackerman argued, using the tools of 'far-right internet culture' to provoke people by using jarring memes plus the 'classic fascist propaganda' of armed agents kicking in doors to arrest mostly non-white people. 'This is a turn. This is different,' he said. 'This is very racialized, very essentialized propaganda that DHS did not previously explicitly traffic in, even if this probably reflects the id of the Department of Homeland Security that whole time.' The administration's immigration PR efforts have extended beyond the DHS X account and its selection of pioneer paintings. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has earned the derisive nickname ' ICE Barbie ' from critics for her frequent photo-ops in cowboy oufits and combat-ready gear matching with the various agencies under her purview. Both Trump and Noem have featured in wartime-style recruiting posters urging viewers to 'Defend the Homeland, Join ICE Today,' as the administration offers $50,000 sign-on bonuses for new ICE officers. Trump has long leaned into a nostalgic aesthetic as a notable part of his politics. One of his final executive orders in 2020 involved a demand that all new federal buildings in Washington be built in the ' beautiful ' neo-classical style, with marble and columns meant to evoke the temples of ancient Greece and Rome, while his signature political slogan, 'Make America Great Again,' includes an unmistakable nod to a heroic past. Government officials have long trafficked in tropes and propaganda about disfavored groups, too, White said, pointing to the virulently racist popular depictions of the Japanese during WWII. What stands out in this present era, however, is the seeming commitment of whole government departments to producing such images. In time, however, White said even these purposely exclusionary images of national propaganda reveal their limitations. 'In myth, nothing ever changes,' he said. 'In history, things do change.'
