A complete ban on entry into the United States for citizens of 12 countries and a partial ban for citizens of 7 more countries came into effect on Monday, June 9.
A complete ban has been imposed on citizens of 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. A partial ban has been imposed on citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. They will not be issued visitor and student visas. However, visas for work or for family reunification will remain in effect.
The restrictions include exceptions for persons with permanent residence in the United States (a “green card”), dual citizens with a passport from a country not affected by the ban, or “certain family members” of U.S. citizens, AFP notes. The White House website lists the reasons the administration imposed the ban, including “inadequate vetting capabilities” in some countries, high visa overstay rates, lack of cooperation in information sharing, “significant terrorist presence”, and the refusal of some countries on the list to take back their citizens who are deported from the United States. During his first term, Donald Trump imposed a similar ban on citizens of Cuba, Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. That measure was rescinded by Joe Biden.
This time, North Korea and Syria were not included in either the full or partial ban.
