As you know, former President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation that enacted a travel ban on citizens from twelve countries. This move greatly limits their capacity to come to the United States. The proclamation, which will take effect on June 9 at 12:01 AM EDT, aims to enhance national security by restricting both immigrant and non-immigrant visas for nationals from these nations. The countries included in this full travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Previously, the Trump administration gave various reasons for the ban. They cited as justification high rates of visa overstays and insufficient cooperation from these countries on repatriating their overstaying nationals. Equatorial Guinea, for example, disclosed that 22 percent of its nationals had overstayed. By contrast, Eritrea held the lowest rate at 20 percent, with Yemen coming in just behind at 19.8 percent. This surprise move is just the latest in Trump’s long-running campaign to restrict legal immigration and enhance border security.
Background on the Travel Ban
The travel ban continues an unbroken chain of similarly escalating restrictions that grew more strident through Trump’s first term in office. He claimed that his prior travel restrictions were central to stopping international terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.
“In my first term, my powerful travel restrictions were one of our most successful policies and they were a key part of preventing major foreign terror attacks on American soil,” – Donald Trump
In addition to the twelve countries facing a full ban, the proclamation includes partial restrictions on seven other nations: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Lawful permanent residents of the U.S., holders of immediate family immigrant visas, and special immigrant visa recipients for U.S. government employees are exempted from these restrictions. As it currently stands, this exemption applies to athletes and members of athletic teams, as well as dual nationals from the enumerated countries.
Unfortunately, the proclamation only applies to future entries. It does not impact people already living in the U.S.
Reasons Behind the Ban
Before analyzing the President’s Travel Ban, we should first look at Trump’s justification for having such a policy in the first place. He continually focused on the need for improved immigration enforcement to prevent more risks from coming here and harming American citizens.
Additionally, the bite of Trump’s proclamation was to more specifically identify Somalia as “a terrorist safe haven.” This is a contentious characterization, as evidenced by the responses of many Somali officials and scholars to it. They are afraid of losing strong diplomatic relations with the U.S.
“Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised,” – Dahir Hassan Abdi
Trump’s administration has maintained that the list of banned countries is subject to change at any time. They’ll recalibrate it as security conditions improve or new threats arise.
“The list is subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made,” – Donald Trump
“Likewise, new countries can be added as threats emerge around the world,” – Donald Trump
Impact on Affected Citizens
The travel ban will continue to deeply affect individuals from the twelve specified countries. In fiscal year 2022, more than 363,549 people from these countries came to the U.S. This modest figure underscores the need to double down on extending this ban. Permanent termination of all immigrant and non-immigrant visas as such will obstruct the family reunification process and other forms of economic migration.
Venezuela’s situation remains particularly contentious. Yet, as Trump pointed out, this country has an exceptional history of refusing to accept back its removable nationals. Venezuelan officials have responded very strongly against these allegations.
“The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans … They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason,” – Diosdado Cabello
Critics of the travel ban argue that it discriminates against certain nationalities and does not effectively address genuine security concerns.
