U.S. journey restrictions formally in impact for 19 international locations

[ad_1] President Donald Trump's new ban on journey to the U.S. by residents from 12 primarily African and Center Japanese international locations took impact Monday amid rising stress over the president's escalating marketing campaign of immigration enforcement.

The brand new proclamation, which Trump signed final week, applies to residents of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It additionally imposes heightened restrictions on individuals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who're outdoors the U.S. and do not maintain a sound visa.

In whole, just below 162,000 immigrant visas and short-term work, examine, and journey visas have been issued in fiscal yr 2023 to nationals of the affected international locations within the now banned visa classes, in line with the Migration Coverage Institute. The ban consists of exemptions, resembling for twin nationals, everlasting residents, immigrant visas for quick relations of residents and athletes touring for main sporting occasions like subsequent yr's World Cup, when the U.S. hosts about 75 per cent of match video games.

The brand new ban doesn't revoke visas beforehand issued to individuals from international locations on the record, in line with steerage issued Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions. Nevertheless, until an applicant meets slim standards for an exemption to the ban, his or her utility shall be rejected beginning Monday.

Throughout Trump's first time period, a swiftly written government order ordering the denial of entry to residents of primarily Muslim international locations created chaos at quite a few airports and different ports of entry, prompting profitable authorized challenges and main revisions to the coverage.

No such disruption was instantly discernible at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport within the hours after the brand new ban took impact.

Ban criticized by migrant advocates Whereas the U.S. does have a major difficulty with unauthorized individuals inside its borders, estimated at between 11 million and 12 million individuals by varied immigration think-tanks, the ban was shortly denounced by teams that present support and resettlement assist to refugees.

"This coverage isn't about nationwide safety — it's about sowing division and vilifying communities which are searching for security and alternative in the USA," stated Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, a nonprofit worldwide reduction group.

The inclusion of Afghanistan angered some supporters who've labored to resettle its individuals. The ban does make exceptions for Afghans on Particular Immigrant Visas, typically individuals who labored most intently with the U.S. authorities in the course of the two-decade-long battle there.

WATCH l Trump reprises journey bans: Trump defends journey ban on 12 international locations: ‘We don’t need them’

U.S. President Donald Trump defended banning entry to residents of twelve international locations and imposing stiff journey restrictions on seven different international locations. Trump stated he’s targeted on international locations that pose a terror menace, have a historical past of visa violations or lack secure journey documentation methods. Afghanistan had been one of many largest sources of resettled refugees, with about 14,000 arrivals in a 12-month interval via September 2024. Trump suspended refugee resettlement from the nation on his first day in workplace.

Whereas a lot of the international locations on the record are on the opposite aspect of the world, the Caribbean nation of Haiti is an exception. The nation is at the moment wracked by a few of its most vital gang violence ever, with UN officers saying final week a meals disaster exists for most of the island's inhabitants.

Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was on the airport earlier Sunday in Newark, N.J., awaiting a flight to her residence state of Florida, stated many Haitians wanting to come back to the U.S. are merely searching for to flee violence and unrest.

"I've household in Haiti, so it is fairly upsetting to see and listen to," Louis-Juste, 23, stated of the journey ban. "I do not assume it is a good factor. I feel it's extremely upsetting."

Many immigration consultants say the brand new ban is extra rigorously crafted and seems designed to beat courtroom challenges that hampered the primary by specializing in the visa utility course of.

Trump stated this time that some international locations had "poor" screening for passports and different public paperwork or have traditionally refused to take again their very own residents. He relied extensively on an annual Homeland Safety report of people that stay within the U.S. after their visas expired.

Measuring overstay charges has challenged consultants for many years, however the authorities has made a restricted try yearly since 2016. Trump's proclamation cites overstay charges for eight of the 12 banned international locations.

Trump additionally tied the brand new ban to an assault in Boulder, Colo., saying it underscored the hazards posed by some guests who overstay visas. U.S. officers say the person charged within the assault overstayed a vacationer visa. He's from Egypt, a rustic that's not on Trump's restricted record.

"Egypt has been a rustic that we cope with very intently. They've issues below management," Trump stated final week. "The international locations that we have now do not have issues below management."