Trump Travel Bans loom, foreign nationals should return to United States or risk bar on re-entry

Foreign Nationals from targeted countries who are currently outside the USA should return immediately.

The New York Times is reporting that the Trump Administration plans to implement “travel bans” for countries around the globe that will either bar or severely restrict citizens of the named countries from entering the United States.

The travel bans could go into effect as early as this week, and could take effect immediately, with no grace period for foreign nationals outside of the United States to return to this country prior to the bans barring their entry.

Importantly, there have not been any official announcements by the administration regarding the travel ban, the countries included, or which classes of foreign nationals will be subject to the bans.

Reportedly, the Administration will announce separate lists of countries, Red, Orange and Yellow, with citizens from countries on the Red list barred from entry to the United States, countries on the Orange list, severely restricting citizens from those countries’ ability to enter the United States, and countries on the Yellow list, that would be given a period of time to be cleared from the travel ban lists or moved to another category.

The countries that could be included on the Red List (most severely restricted) will likely include Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

Countries that could be included on the Orange List are Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Turkmenistan.

Please note that these are not official lists; additional countries could be added to the lists and some could be removed.

In light of these reports, our strong recommendation is that all foreign nationals, including lawful permanent residents (LPRs/green card holders) and nonimmigrant visa holders (H-1B, E-2, L, O, P, etc.) who are currently outside the United States, and who call the United States either their temporary or permanent home, return to the United States immediately.

For more information on the rapidly changing field of U.S. immigration law and policy, please contact Kolko & Casey, P.C.