The 1947 contract outlines his duties as a UN host, continues to provide employees and their families with relatively free access to the US
At the time of the Trump administration’s increased national security horror and immigration enforcement, experts are urging a reexamination of host country contracts, looking at the functional immunity granted to UN staff and the limited reviews given to UN visa people.
“The United States appears to have a relaxed view of individuals in countries associated with the United Nations being included as employees or representatives of various countries’ duties. However, UN employees know they are closely linked and closely with terrorist organizations such as UNRWA and Hamas.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in discussion with Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassilly Nevenzia during a UN Security Council meeting on April 24, 2023. (AP Photo/John Minkiro)
“There is a disconnect between the welcoming everyday life and the serious harm to American interests. Hosting the United Nations does not require the host nation to promote or endure threats to national security,” Beyfsky said.
The federal government grants G-Visas to employees, spouses, and children of international organizations, including the United Nations, who live or visit the United Nations, according to the State Department’s website. The State Department also explained that “embassies and consulates generally do not require interviews with people applying for G-1-4 and NATO-1-6 visas, but consular officers can request interviews.”
“It appears that is being issued by a (UN employee) G visa is a relatively rubber stamp exercise,” Hugh Dugan, a senior adviser to the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News Digital. Not requesting personnel interviews is “frankly, we should be able to assess the threat to our country at all times.”
Dugan, a former special assistant to the National Security Council and senior director of international organizational affairs, said countries such as Russia and China are only allowed to travel a certain distance from the UN headquarters. “We keep an eye on the activity and presence of our enemies here, but the doors are open to join the United Nations and the host agreement will prevent the country from being banned due to the specific political atmosphere or issues that may be brewed between us and them.”
Former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is exhibiting photographs of General Kasim Soleimani at the United Nations. (Peter Aitken from Fox News Digital)
Fox News Digital asked the State Department if it needed to interview staff from hostile member countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Russia, North Korea, Iran and China, but there was no response. A State Department spokesman reiterated that consulate officials “have full authority to request face-to-face interviews for any reason.”
Peter Gallo, a former investigator at the United Nations Internal Monitoring Services (OIOS), told Fox News Digital that he was particularly concerned about the functional immunity granted to UN staff participating in employment-related activities. “The US legal system has come to accept it as mostly blanket compensation,” Gallo explained. He added: “Immunity produces immunity.”
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Gallo alleged there was an outbreak of sexual crimes and fraud among UN staff. He cited an incident in which a UN employee outside the United Nations sexually harassed “young women in his department.” Gallo said the problematic employee was demoted as it took two years to receive the investigation report to be completed. Gallo said the harassed employee and her harasser remained in the same organization.
Garo said if an employee participates in fraud while he is based at the UN headquarters, the US government should be able to investigate the incident and determine whether staff will hold G visas.
Dugan said that if UN officials knew we could lift (immunity) at any time, they might behave much differently.
Chinese Vice President Han Chang will address the 78th UN General Assembly in New York City on September 21, 2023. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
In response to questions about whether UN staff were accused of US sexual misconduct or whether UN staff engaged in fraudulent acts have revoked their G-Visa, a State Department spokesman said, “We have explained cancellation statistics that are generally “not provided.” They also stated that “all visa applicants are being examined continuously, regardless of the type of visa and their location. Security reviews are being examined continuously from the time of each application, and then onwards, to ensure that individuals remain eligible for travel to the United States, through visa reviews and during the validity of subsequently issued visas.”
A spokesperson said UN officials are “expected to respect applicable US laws, including criminal law, otherwise it could constitute an abuse of residency privilege.” They added that this “applies to people who have diplomatic immunity in their positions.”
Some staff who raised the internal alarm bell are the United Nations Special Rapporteurs of Francesca Albanese, an occupied Palestinian territory, who traveled to the United States in 2024 to submit a report before the Third Committee of the General Assembly. Albanese, whose anti-Semitism is widely criticized by US senior diplomats and the State Department, has been allowed to tour multiple US university campuses while in the US
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In addition to qualifying for the “rubber stamp” G visa, staff at international organizations such as the United Nations can qualify for a green card if they spend at least half of their employment within the United States for at least seven years, or if they were in the United States a total of 15 years prior to their retirement.
