United States President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation on Wednesday banning citizens of 12 countries from coming into the US. Heightened restrictions on coming into the US have been put in place for nationals of seven extra international locations.
The journey ban is Trump’s public figure transfer within the immigration crackdown that he promised on the marketing campaign path earlier than final 12 months’s presidential election.
Trump mentioned the measures would assist to “shield Individuals from harmful overseas actors”.
Here’s what we all know concerning the journey ban up to now:
Which international locations’ residents are absolutely restricted from travelling to the US?
The 12 international locations whose nationals are absolutely restricted from travelling to the US beneath Trump’s journey ban are:
- Afghanistan
- Myanmar
- Chad
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Libya
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Yemen
Which international locations are topic to partial restrictions?
The seven international locations topic to partial restrictions are:
- Burundi
- Cuba
- Laos
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Turkmenistan
- Venezuela
How will Trump’s journey ban work?
Residents from the 12 international locations topic to a full ban on journey to the US will face an entire suspension of immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
Residents from the seven international locations which have been positioned beneath partial restrictions will now not have the ability to apply for immigrant visas or non-immigrant momentary visas overlaying everlasting immigration, scholar visas and tourism visas together with B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M and J. They’ll nonetheless have the ability to apply for some momentary visas, nonetheless.
Not like an government order, a presidential proclamation isn’t legally binding however usually alerts a coverage shift.
The brand new guidelines apply solely to folks exterior the US on the time of the proclamation and who didn’t but maintain a legitimate visa on the time of the proclamation.
Are there any exceptions to the journey ban?
Sure. The brand new suspension and restrictions won’t apply to:
- Lawful everlasting residents of the US, also referred to as inexperienced card holders.
- Present visa holders.
- International diplomats travelling beneath sure non-immigrant visa classes.
- Twin nationals of the 19 international locations included within the ban, if they’re travelling on a passport of a rustic that isn’t topic to the ban.
- Athletes or members of an athletic crew, reminiscent of coaches, folks performing a help position and quick relations, travelling for a significant sporting occasion such because the World Cup or Olympics.
- Instant household immigrant visas (IR-1/CR-1, IR-2/CR-2, IR-5) “with clear and convincing proof of id and household relationship (eg DNA)”.
- Adoptees.
- Afghan Particular immigrant visas.
- Particular immigrant visas for US authorities staff.
- Immigrant visas for ethnic and spiritual minorities going through persecution in Iran.
How many individuals might this have an effect on?
A complete of 363,549 folks from the 19 listed international locations entered the US within the fiscal 12 months 2022 – the latest 12 months on document for arrivals – based on knowledge from the Division of Homeland Safety.
Some 250,234 of those folks have been from Venezuela, which is topic to partial restrictions solely.
An extra 66,563 of those folks have been from Haiti, which now faces an entire journey ban.
Why has Trump banned arrivals to the US from these international locations?
Trump cited safety threats and “overseas terrorists” as grounds for the ban.
In a video posted on Wednesday on his social media platform, Fact Social, Trump mentioned the current assault in Boulder, Colorado “has underscored the acute risks posed to our nation by the entry of overseas nationals who usually are not correctly vetted, in addition to those that come right here as momentary guests and overstay their visas”.
On June 1, police arrested a man who threw incendiary units in direction of a gaggle of individuals attending a rally for the discharge of captives taken from Israel on October 7, 2023 and held in Gaza. The FBI mentioned it was investigating the incident as “an act of terror”.
Suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman was charged with a federal hate crime, in addition to an array of state fees, based on an affidavit by the US Division of Justice. Soliman is an Egyptian nationwide who has additionally lived in Kuwait. Neither of those international locations is on Trump’s listing of banned international locations.
In a Fact Social submit, Trump blamed “[former US President Joe] Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Coverage” for permitting Soliman into the nation. Stephen Miller, the White Home deputy chief of employees for coverage, mentioned the suspect within the Boulder incident had overstayed a vacationer visa, with out naming Soliman.
A truth sheet printed by the White Home said a selected justification for the exclusion of every nation on the brand new journey ban listing.
These justifications included that enormous numbers of residents had overstayed their visas, that the international locations had a poor document of cooperating with the US to obtain their residents again if that they had overstayed within the US, or that the international locations have been affected by battle.
Based on the latest figures from the US Division of Homeland Safety, nationals of Chad had the best overstay fee, at 49.5 p.c of these arriving within the US on a visa. Others with excessive overstay charges have been Equatorial Guinea (22 p.c), Eritrea (20 p.c) and Yemen (19.8 p.c).
On his first day in workplace, Trump signed an government order, calling on his state division to establish international locations “for which vetting and screening info is so poor as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from these international locations”. He referred to this order in his video announcement of the journey ban.
When does the journey ban take impact?
The journey ban will take impact on June 9 at 12:01am EDT (04:01 GMT).
Has Trump accomplished this earlier than?
Sure, Trump enacted a travel ban – dubbed the “Muslim ban” as all however one of many international locations on the listing at the moment have been Muslim-majority – throughout his first time period in 2017.
In his Wednesday Fact Social video, Trump mentioned: “In my first time period, my highly effective journey restrictions have been considered one of our most profitable insurance policies they usually have been a key a part of stopping main overseas terror assaults on American soil.”
That earlier ban went by way of a number of revisions. It was upheld by the US Supreme Court docket in 2018. In 2021, Biden repealed this ban, calling it “a stain on our nationwide conscience”.
May extra international locations be added to this journey ban sooner or later?
Sure. In his Fact Social video announcement, Trump mentioned “the listing is topic to revision primarily based on whether or not materials enhancements are made.
“Likewise, new international locations could be added as threats emerge world wide.”
How are affected international locations reacting to Trump’s journey ban?
Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the US, mentioned in a press release that Somalia is able to work with the US. “Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the US and stands prepared to have interaction in dialogue to handle the considerations raised,” he mentioned.
Trump’s proclamation described Somalia as “a terrorist protected haven” and said: “Somalia lacks a reliable or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil paperwork and it doesn’t have acceptable screening and vetting measures.”
Diosdado Cabello, Venezuelan inside minister and shut aide of President Nicolas Maduro, mentioned: “The reality is being in the US is an enormous danger for anyone, not only for Venezuelans … They persecute our countrymen, our folks for no purpose.”
Trump’s proclamation said: “Venezuela has traditionally refused to simply accept again its detachable nationals.”