Trump Travel Ban 5.0 is Coming

We knew it was coming. The Trump administration is preparing to roll out a new ban on travel to the United States, restricting the entry of citizens from certain countries for which vetting and screening warrants a partial or full suspension of admission to the United States. This travel restriction is rumored to take place by executive action next week.

If this sounds like déjà vu, that’s because it is.

During his first term in office, in 2017 Trump signed Executive Order 13769 entitled, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” which banned nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for a period of 90 days.

This executive order caused international chaos, due to several key provisions:

It suspended the entry of immigrants and non-immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen – for 90 days
The order indefinitely suspended the entry of Syrian refugees
It reduced the number of refugees to be admitted to the United States in 2017 to 50,000
The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) was suspended for 120 days

Implementation of this executive order led to controversy and numerous legal challenges:

More than 700 travelers were detained, and up to 60,000 visas were “provisionally revoked”
Protests and chaos erupted at airports across the country
Multiple lawsuits were filed in federal court challenging its constitutionality

In response to legal challenges, federal courts across the country issued several injunctions temporarily blocking Trump’s travel ban from being enforced.

In 2018, in a 5-4 opinion, the Supreme Court allowed a third version of Trump’s travel ban to be enforced, which expanded the list of barred travelers to include nationals from Venezuela (limited to government officials) and North Korea.

In 2020, the Trump administration expanded travel restrictions on six more countries–Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania–citing screening and national security concerns in those countries.

Who May Be Impacted by Trump’s 2025 Travel Ban?

On his first day in office, Trump’s first order of business was signing Executive Order 14161 entitled, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” which directs the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, the Attorney General, and the Director of National Intelligence to submit a joint report by March 21, 2025 that:

Identifies the “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 from those countries pursuant to section 212(f)of the INA”
Identifies “how many nationals from those countries have entered or have been admitted into the United States on or since January 20, 2021”
For any individual who may be covered by a country finding under this provision, directs DHS to “take immediate steps to exclude or remove that alien unless she determines that doing so would inhibit a significant pending investigation or prosecution of the alien for a serious criminal offense or would be contrary to the national security interests of the United States.”

Since March 21^st is now approaching, the Trump administration will soon unveil its new travel ban.

Government officials speaking on condition of anonymity have told New York Times reporters that Trump’s new travel ban will be broader than its previous four versions.

Red List of Banned Nationals

A draft proposal that has not yet been finalized reveals a “red” list of countries whose citizens would be barred from entering the United States. These include countries whose nationals were restricted from entering under previous versions of Trump’s travel bans including Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. The government is proposing adding Afghanistan to its red list.

Orange List of Nationals Subject to Certain Travel Restrictions

According to the New York Times, government officials have also recommended travel restrictions for an “orange” group of countries whose nationals would not be completely barred from entering the United States, but whose entry could be reduced and/or subject to enhanced vetting.

For example, only certain types of visas might be issued for nationals of “orange” countries, and the length of visas could be shortened.

Government officials have said Pakistan may end up in the “red” list or “orange” list depending on government considerations.

Yellow List

Additionally, countries in a third or “yellow” category would be given 60 days to change some perceived deficiencies or be added to the above “red” or “orange” lists. Such deficiencies include failing to share information about incoming travelers with the U.S. government, inadequate security practices for passport issuance, etc.

Will U.S. Visa holders/LPRs be impacted?

It is not yet known whether nationals from impacted countries with existing U.S. visas will be exempted from Trump’s ban, or if their visas may be at risk of being revoked.

There is also no information about whether green card holders will be affected.

What can we expect moving forward?

The new travel ban has not yet been made public, and the list of nationals that may be banned from entering the country may be subject to change by the time of the executive order’s publication which is expected by March 21st.

Nevertheless, it is important for nationals from any of the affected countries, with pending visa applications at U.S. Consulates and Embassies, to seek the counsel of an immigration attorney as soon as possible. Applicants will need to understand potential delays in visa processing and entry to the United States if these bans are enforced.

The Law Offices of Jacob J. Sapochnick is carefully monitoring these developments and will provide more details as soon as they are released by the White House.

To read the New York Times article, please click here.

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