President Donald Trump issued a new travel ban late Wednesday which will affect 19 countries. The ban officially takes effect Monday (June 9) at 12:01 a.m. ET and applies to nationals of the listed countries who are outside the United States and do not have a valid visa or entry document as of then.
The attorneys at Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm recommend all nationals from the countries listed in the proclamation return to (or enter for the first time), with valid travel documents, the United States as soon as possible before the proclamation takes effect Monday. Otherwise, they risk being stranded outside the U.S. with few, if any, measures to return. This is a developing situation that the attorneys at Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm are monitoring closely.
The ban “fully restricts and limits” the entry of nationals from 12 countries, which include:
- Afghanistan
- Burma
- Chad
- Republic of the Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Haiti
- Iran
- Libya
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Yemen
Further, nationals from seven additional countries will be restricted from entering the United States with immigrant or B-1, B‑2, B-1/B-2, F, M, or J nonimmigrant visas. Those countries are:
- Burundi
- Cuba
- Laos
- Sierra Leone
- Togo
- Turkmenistan
- Venezuela
Consular officers were instructed to “reduce the validity for any other nonimmigrant visa issued to nationals” of the seven countries listed above. It is not yet clear how such directive will be implemented.
The ban, which was issued as an executive order, includes limited exceptions for:
- Lawful Permanent Residents of the United States
- Dual nationals of one of the listed countries if traveling on a passport issued by a country not impacted by the ban
- Foreign nationals traveling with an A-1, A-2, C-2, C-3, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1, NATO‑2, NATO-3, NATO-4, NATO-5 or NATO-6 nonimmigrant visa
- Athletes, teams, coaches, support staff, and their immediate relatives traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting events
- Family immigrant visas “with clear and convincing evidence of identity and family relationship”
- Adoptions
- Afghan Special Immigrant Visas
- United States government employees with special immigrant visas
- Immigrant visas for ethnic and religious minorities facing persecution in Iran
- Any foreign national whose entry “would advance a critical United States national interest”
It is not yet clear if and how the ban applies to affected nationals who are inside the United States with valid visas and/or status when the ban goes into effect. Nationals of such countries should generally avoid traveling internationally and/or consult with immigration counsel before traveling internationally.
The ban is a result of the executive order issued by Trump during the first day of his second term in the White House entitled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security Public Safety Threats,” which instructed various agencies to identify “countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals.”
The Firm will alert clients when and if circumstances evolve. The ban could also face legal challenges in federal court.