Trump’s NEW Travel Ban Is WORSE Than You Think! [Immigration Lawyer Explains]

Trump has signed an executive order to bring back the travel ban, and this time it could be worse.

Not only will it ban legal immigration from countries, but it also gives Trump the power to deport legal immigrants who are already here. That's why it is so important for you to know whether or not this ban affects you, and what you can do to stay protected. Your future in the U.S. could depend on this.

The original travel ban by Trump was a way to ensure that Muslim persons could not enter the United States. In fact, it was so obviously religiously discriminatory that the first two versions were struck down for violating the First Amendment. Now Trump is trying to take it even further.

This new ban will not just start targeting persons who are from Muslim majority countries, it will also target persons from those countries who are inside the United States.

In his executive order protecting the United States from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats, Trump says, "Within 60 days of this order, our national security agencies shall submit a report identifying how many nationals from banned countries have entered or have been admitted into the United States on or since January 20, 2021 and whenever information is identified that would support their exclusion or removal, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take immediate steps to exclude or to remove them."

So once this ban takes effect, it won't just block new immigrants, it will also force legal immigrants from those countries to be vetted a second time. If the Trump administration finds any reason to support your removal, then you could also be deported from the United States. But it doesn't stop there.

The executive order also says that a person "cannot bear hostile attitudes toward American citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles" and "should not advocate, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security."

This means that if you simply protest a cause the Trump administration doesn't like, they could argue that you have a hostile attitude toward the country and use it as an excuse to deny your case or to deport you. One obvious target is going to be foreign students who protest the genocide of Palestinians.

This will almost certainly be used to take away their student visas and deport them back to their home countries. The new travel ban won't just block persons from entering the United States, it'll also slow down visa processing and legal immigration for everyone. It tells immigration agencies to "vet and screen to the maximum degree possible all immigrants who intend to enter the United States."

This means that it will take longer to process almost every single case, regardless of where you are from. So you can expect more paperwork, more repost for evidence, and more interviews.

It also means that more persons will get stuck inside of administrative processing when they're outside of the U.S. and where cases are pulled for extra review, adding months and sometimes years to their total processing time. In the end, this will cause legal immigration to slow to a crawl for everyone.

Who Does it Target?

So now that we know what the new travel ban does, who is likely to be the main target? We won't know for sure until Trump announces the final list.

By the end of his first term, these were the countries that faced partial or complete bans:

• Iran
• Libya
• North Korea
• Somalia
• Syria
• Venezuela
• Temen
• Myanmar
• Eritrea
• Kyrgyzstan
• Nigeria
• Sudan
• Tanzania

The restrictions were not the same for every country.

For example, all immigrants and non-immigrants were banned from Iran, with the exception of students and exchange visitors. Somalia, on the other hand, had all immigrant visas banned, but every type of non-immigrant visa was allowed.

By the time that Trump issued his fourth travel ban, he admitted that his main focus was blocking immigrant visas, since those were harder to take away once someone is already inside the United States.

This means that the main persons being targeted were:

• Parents of U.S. Citizens
• Adult children of U.S. Citizens
• Spouses and children (regardless of age) of Lawful Permanent Residents
• Diversity visa program
• Most employment-based visas
• Other kinds of immigrant visas

The people who were least likely to be affected by this travel ban were:

• Spouses and minor children of U.S. Citizens
• Active duty troops and their families
• Persons applying for EB-5 investor visa
• Anyone whose entry was deemed to be within the nation interest

The original travel ban also had exemptions, including for:

• Anyone who was legally inside the United States when it was already announced
• Anyone who already had a valid visa
• All green card holders
• Anyone with advanced parole
• Any dual citizens as long as they were not traveling on a passport from a banned country

Note that the previous travel ban did not affect people applying for adjustment to status inside the United States and since most employment-based green cards do go through this process, employment-based immigration was mostly unaffected by this travel ban.

So, in reality, the travel ban was more of a family immigrant visa ban and did not restrict travel for those with legal status already inside the United States.

How to Protect Yourself

Now that we have a good idea of what Trump's travel ban might look like, how can we protect ourselves?

One of the safest things that you can do is stay inside the United States until the new ban is officially announced. The first travel ban resulted in chaos at airports across the United States, and even persons with legal status were denied entry by customs.

So while that probably won't happen this time, the safe move is still to be inside the U.S. when the travel ban is announced and if you do get stuck at the airport, you might qualify for a waiver if you can prove that you'll face serious hardship if you're denied entry, that your entry is in the national interest, and that you are not a security threat.

To be safe, consider traveling with a detailed cover letter explaining that you meet these three criteria along with documents to back it up. However, this is not a guarantee that you'll be allowed back in with this, but it is always safe to get the help of an attorney to help you create this document.

I'll include a link in the description here to list all the documents recommended to be carried by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, AILA, of which I am a proud member.

If you're a student, it's a good idea to keep proof of school funding along with the certificate of enrollment or transcript with you at all times to prove that you are in a proper F1 status.

If you have any questions or need help, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee has also set up a 24-hour hotline for anyone affected. You can call them at 844-232-9955 and of course, I'll keep you updated as we learn more about Trump's new travel ban and how it will affect you.

So make sure that you subscribe to my channel so that you can keep up with me and the latest immigration news. The travel ban is not the only Trump policy that will have a major impact upon immigrants. He's also bringing back his old USCIS policies like automatically issuing a notice to appear if your case gets denied.

I break down all of these changes in my recent video, Trump's New USCIS Policies: Prepare for These Major Changes Now. Click to watch it next, and I'll see you there.