On December 16, 2025, President Trump executed a Presidential Proclamation expanding administration’s full and partial suspensions of immigrant and nonimmigrant visa issuance announced this past June to an additional twenty countries and the Palestinian Authority. With this expansion, there are now more than 35 countries subject to US travel restrictions. The new travel ban will be effective as of January 1, 2026.
Read moreTrump Administration Pauses Immigration Applications for Travelers From Restricted Countries
On December 2, 2025, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) paused processing of several types of immigration applications, including asylum, green cards, and citizenship requests, for individuals from 19 countries previously restricted under the administration’s updated travel policies while USCIS conducts additional security reviews. The decision comes after an Afghan national, who had been granted humanitarian parole into the United States based on his work with CIA counterterrorism unit in Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul, and subsequently granted asylum in April 2025, under the Trump administration, was identified as the November 26th shooter in Washington, D.C., that killed one National Guard member and left another in critical condition.
Read morePresident Trump’s New Travel Restrictions
On June 4, 2025 the Trump Administration signed a proclamation barring nationals from twelve countries, primarily from Africa and the Middle East, from entry into the US and restricting the entry of nationals hailing from seven other countries. The travel ban is set to go into effect as 12:01 AM EST on Monday, June 9, 2025.
Read moreUnderstanding the Risks of International Travel: A Practical Guide for Visitors, Visa Holders, Green Card Holders, and US Citizens
Recent media coverage has sparked concerns about international travelers entering the US, including the possibility of delays or denials at the US border, especially for travelers with ties to certain countries or political issues. While headlines may amplify isolated incidents, it is important to understand what the actual risks are, and are not, for different categories of travelers. The looming threat of a travel ban being instituted for nationals of certain countries by the Trump administration may also impact some foreign nationals, even if they have valid visas, potentially preventing them from re-entering the country should the ban be imposed while they are outside of the US. In an effort to provide clarity and help travelers make informed decisions before planning a trip abroad, we are providing a brief guide in an effort to minimize concerns and flag any potential areas of concern.
Read moreA New Trump Travel Ban May be Imminent
There has been speculation that the Trump administration is intending to re-institute the Travel Ban from his first tenure which prevented travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the US and which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. On March 5, 2025, Reuters reported three anonymous sources had come forward with the news that as soon as next week, based on Trump’s executive order requiring intensified security vetting and identifying security risks per country, a new travel ban could bar people from Afghanistan and Pakistan from entering the US. The New York Times (“Times”) is reporting that this time around, this travel ban would be broader in scope.
Read moreDepartment of State Updates Guidance on Visa Interview Waivers
On February 18, 2025 The Department of State (“DOS”) announced changes to its policy previously instituted to facilitate visa processing and cut down wait times at US Consulates by offering mail in services for processing visas, foregoing in person interviews for several visa categories. The newly updated guidelines, narrow the pool of nonimmigrant visa applicants that may qualify for an interview waiver making the interview waiver and drop box options available only if the applicant previously held a visa in the same category and their prior visa either expired within the last twelve months or remains valid.
Read moreThe First Two Weeks in Office: Trump’s Anti-immigration Actions
President Donald J. Trump’s first day in office on January 20th, 2025, was sealed by his passing forty-six presidential actions in line with “President Trump’s America First Priorities”. Keeping in line with his campaign promises to eliminate illegal immigration many of his executive orders are targeted at immigration. A few hours into his second term President Trump suspended US asylum, along with refugee, and other humanitarian programs. He also increased security screening of all foreign nationals seeking entry to the US and continued with his campaign to limit birthright citizenship. Let’s examine a few of Trump’s mandates that affect our communities.
Read moreThe Hill: “Trump to establish National Vetting Center for immigrants, visitors”
President Trump signed a national security presidential memorandum last week that will establish a “National Vetting Center” to “identify potential threats to national security, border security, homeland security, and public safety.” The National Vetting Center will be run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), together with the Justice Department, the State Department, and other intelligence agencies. These agencies must establish the center in six months, with no additional funding.
Read moreReuters: “Fewer family visas approved as Trump toughens vetting of immigrants”
As the Trump administration campaigns against “chain migration”—where US citizens or Green Card holders petition for extended family members to immigrate to the US—approvals of family-based visas have dropped dramatically in the 2017 fiscal year despite no changes to law. Within the first nine months of 2017, the number of I-130 approvals dropped to 406,000, compared to the 530,000 approvals from the same time period in 2016, despite a similar amount of applications, a Reuters review of US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) figures show.
Read moreProPublica: “Extreme Digital Vetting of Visitors to the U.S. Moves Forward Under a New Name”
At a tech industry conference hosted by the Government Technology & Services Coalition last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) invited software providers to begin the process of creating algorithms that would monitor the social media accounts of visa holders deemed to be a high risk in order to assess potential threats to the US. The agency announced that they would need tools equipped with “risk-based matrices” that would continue social media surveillance throughout these visa holders’ stay in the US so that ICE may predict any threats. These requests are the first clear plans showing ICE’s intent to augment tougher visa vetting with the monitoring of social media through a program now named “Visa Lifecycle Vetting.”
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