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A House committee is investigating the Department of Homeland Security after it gave Nigel Farage special permission to enter the US for Trump's Tulsa rally

Jun 23, 2020, 16:49 IST
Business Insider
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage in Worksop, England, on December 3, 2019.Associated Press
  • A House committee is investigating why Nigel Farage was allowed to enter the US to attend a Trump rally in Tulsa amid the pandemic.
  • The Department of Homeland Security had permitted the leader of the Brexit Party to enter the US last Friday, despite coronavirus restrictions, saying it was "in the national interest."
  • On Monday, Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, asked the department to explain how this decision was made.
  • Thompson noted the Trump administration's March 14 declaration that anyone who has been in the UK in the past 14 days is not permitted to enter the US.
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The House committee overseeing the Department of Homeland Security is investigating why Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage was allowed enter the US to attend a Trump rally despite coronavirus travel restrictions.

Farage was briefly prevented from entering the US from the UK on Friday, but was admitted after Homeland Security ruled that his trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, "would be in the national interest."

Farage tweeted a photo of himself the following day, with a caption saying he was in the US. On Saturday, attendees of the rally identified Farage as being present.

In a letter dated June 22, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, asked the acting secretary of the department, Chad Wolf, to explain how the decision was made to admit Farage.

Thompson pointed out that Trump issued a proclamation on March 14 that moved to restrict arrivals from the UK.

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The proclamation said the US would "restrict and suspend the entry into the US ... of all aliens who were physically present within the United Kingdom ... during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the US."

Donald Trump and Farage in 2016.Nigel Farage / Twitter

Thopmson wrote: "The decision of the Trump Administration to admit Mr. Farage to the United States to enable him to attend a campaign rally at a time when most travel from the United Kingdom to the US has been suspended raises numerous troubling questions, as does the claim that such travel was in the national interest."

Thompson asked Wolf to supply him with communications between DHS employees and the Trump administration related to Farage's visit.

The UK government currently suggests that all citizens avoid "all but essential international travel."

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The Brexit Party did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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