Australian tourists visiting the U.S. 'forced to take in-person INTERVIEWS' before being granted visas under tough new Donald Trump border control laws

Australian tourists may be forced to undergo an interview with U.S. officials under Donald Trump's tough new border control plans.
The president is considering an executive order that would suspend a 90-day tourist visa program that allows visitors to enter the U.S. simply by filling out an online form with biographical information.

This means tourists would have to sit an interview in person before entering the U.S., the Los Angeles reported.
The newspaper cited a draft executive order which would immediately suspend the Visa Interview Waiver Program.

This means 'all individuals seeking a non-immigrant visa, undergo an in-person interview, subject to specific statutory exceptions'.
If this happens, Australians wishing to visit the U.S. on a tourist visa would have to queue for hours at a U.S. consulate, as visitors seeking work visas already do.

They would bring their passport and be asked about their criminal history.
The news comes a day after New South Wales Christian conservative politician Fred Nile revealed he was denied a U.S. visa, to witness President Trump's inauguration, for security reasons. 

President Trump is also considering blocking all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and banning people from Muslim terror hot spots, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The draft order temporarily suspends the US refugee program while new vetting procedures are put in place and stops refugees from Syria being admitted indefinitely until a security screening review is completed.

Many of the asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island, who tried to reach Australia, are from Syria and the other targeted terror hot spot countries.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer has confirmed President Trump will announce details of his 'Keeping America Safe' plan later this week.

It could affect Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's deal with former president Barack Obama's administration to have asylum seekers from Nauru and Manus Island sent to the United States.

Powerful members of the Republican-controlled Congress were outraged when it was revealed Turnbull and Obama had struck the agreements without their input.
If Trump torpedoes the refugee deal it will be the second major blow he has delivered to the Australian prime minister this week.

Trump signed an executive order on Monday withdrawing America's involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement with Australia and 10 other Pacific countries.
The Australian government, however, is holding out hope the strong relationship Australia has with the U.S. will keep the refugee deal alive.

'We look forward to working with President Trump, his administration, and in particular Secretary of Homeland Security General John Kelly, on this issue and many others of shared interest in the years ahead,' Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told AAP on Wednesday.

'We will continue to work with our friends in the United States on the arrangement but will not provide a running commentary through the media.'  Source: dailymail