France. England. or some other country where travel is permitted. when their actual destination is a country in which travel is banned. Their purpose in doing this is to obtain a "valid" passport so that they can leave and enter the United States in compliance with the provisions of section 1185 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This is the .first step. normally. in a successful evasion of the criminal provisions of that act by a person who plans to travel in a banned area or country. Going back over a period of many years. you will find that there have been few successful prosecutions of fraud of one kind or another in relation to applications for and use of passports.
Identified stereotypes
Communists are repeatedly evading passport laws.