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.”
Read morePresident Trump Issues New Travel Restrictions for Nationals of 7 Countries
On September 24, 2017, President Trump issued a presidential proclamation that details new travel restrictions targeting nationals of seven countries, including Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as places some travel restrictions or increases scrutiny for certain nationals of Venezuela and nationals of Iraq. Under this proclamation, most citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen will be banned from entering the US. Certain government officials from Venezuela who seek to visit the US will face restrictions and Iraqi nationals will face heightened scrutiny.
Read moreReuters: “Trump Administration Approves Tougher Visa Vetting, Including Social Media Checks”
The Trump administration has approved new questions for certain US visa applicants worldwide that ask for social media handles for the last five years as well as biographical information going back fifteen years. The more extensive vetting was implemented as a "temporary, 'emergency' measure in response to President Trump’s March 6 memo mandating enhanced visa screening.” Under the new guidelines, certain applicants will be asked to provide US consular officials with such information as their passport numbers, travel history and source of funding for all trips that took place within the past fifteen years, employment history and residential addresses from the past fifteen years, the names of all spouses or partners, regardless of if they are living or deceased, and names and birth dates of all siblings and children. In addition, applicants will be asked to provide their user names and handles for all social media accounts that they have used within the past five years. Although providing this information is voluntary, the questionnaire explains that failure to provide such information could potentially delay or prevent visa processing.
Read moreNew York Times: “Trump Administration Orders Tougher Screening of Visa Applicants”
The Trump administration is making it more difficult for millions of visitors to enter the United States by demanding additional security checks before issuing visas to tourists, business travelers, and relatives of American residents, all seemingly in fulfillment of a campaign promise to enact “extreme vetting.” Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has sent diplomatic cables to US Embassies and Consulates worldwide with these instructions for stricter vetting, basing them off a March 6 presidential memorandum ordering the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the secretary of homeland security to “implement protocols and procedures” to enhance visa screening. The new security checks generally do not apply to citizens of countries in the Visa Waiver Program, which includes thirty-eight member countries. The additional scrutiny, for example, will ask applicants about their background and social media history if a person has ever been in a territory controlled by the Islamic State. “Consular officers should not hesitate to refuse any case presenting security concerns,” Secretary Tillerson writes in the cables. “All visa decisions are national security decisions.”
In 2016, the United States issued more than ten million visas, and this additional scrutiny is likely to lengthen the already bureaucratic process. “This will certainly slow down the screening process and impose a substantial burden on these applicants,” Greg Chen, the director of advocacy for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, tells the New York Times. “It will make it much harder and create substantial delays.” Chen questions how a single interviewer who conducts 120 interviews per day—at about five minutes per interview—can improve security. “It’s highly unlikely they could obtain information that demonstrates whether someone is a national security threat in such a brief interview process,” he says.