WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new ban on travel to the U.S. by residents from 12 primarily African and Center Jap international locations is about to take impact Monday amid escalating tension over the president’s unprecedented campaign of immigration enforcement.
The brand new proclamation, which Trump signed on Wednesday, 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 folks from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who’re exterior the U.S. and don’t maintain a sound visa.
The brand new ban doesn’t revoke visas beforehand issued to folks from international locations on the checklist, based on guidance issued Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions. Nonetheless, except an applicant meets slim standards for an exemption to the ban, his or her software will probably be rejected beginning Monday. Vacationers with beforehand issued visas ought to nonetheless be capable to enter the U.S. even after the ban takes impact.
Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was on the airport Sunday in Newark, New Jersey, 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 of their nation.
“I’ve household in Haiti, so it’s fairly upsetting to see and listen to,” Louis-Juste, 23, stated of the journey ban. “I don’t suppose it’s a superb factor. I feel it’s very upsetting.”
Many immigration consultants say the brand new ban is designed to beat any courtroom problem by specializing in the visa software course of and seems extra fastidiously crafted than a hastily written executive order throughout Trump’s first time period that denied entry to residents of primarily Muslim international locations.
In a video posted Wednesday on social media, Trump stated nationals of nations included within the ban pose “terrorism-related” and “public-safety” dangers, in addition to dangers of overstaying their visas. He additionally stated a few of these international locations had “poor” screening and vetting or have traditionally refused to take again their residents.
His findings rely extensively on an annual Homeland Safety report about vacationers, businesspeople and college students who overstay U.S. visas and arrive by air or sea, singling out international locations with excessive percentages of nationals who stay after their visas expired.
Trump additionally tied the brand new ban to a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it underscored the hazards posed by some guests who overstay visas. The person charged within the assault is from Egypt, a rustic that’s not on Trump’s restricted checklist. U.S. officers say he overstayed a tourist visa.
The ban was rapidly denounced by teams that present support and resettlement assist to refugees.
“This coverage is just not about nationwide safety — it’s about sowing division and vilifying communities which are searching for security and alternative in the US,” stated Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, a nonprofit worldwide aid group.
Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro’s authorities condemned the journey ban, characterizing it in a press release as a “stigmatization and criminalization marketing campaign” towards Venezuelans.
