What You Need to Know
President-Elect Biden will end the Ban
In his speech at our Muslims Making Change: National Honors event on October 14, 2020, President-elect Biden publicly pledged to end the Muslim Ban on the first day of his presidency. Ron Klain, Biden’s Chief of Staff, just sent out a memo outlining the initial executive actions he will take, which include rescinding the Muslim Ban.
Overview of Current Ban
- On January 31, 2020, President Trump signed a presidential proclamation which expands the Muslim Ban to include six additional countries: Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.
- The proclamation maintains the original restrictions for Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, North Korea and Venezuela under Presidential Proclamation 9645 from 2017.
- The proclamation states that the United States will suspend issuance of all immigrant visas for individuals from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar (Burma), and Nigeria, as well as diversity visas for individuals from Sudan and Tanzania.
- The proclamation will not apply to non-immigrant visas, which are typically issued to tourists, visitors and students. Instead, it targets individuals who use immigrant visas to keep their families together here in the United States.
- Any visas granted before the proclamation’s effective date, February 21, 2020, will be honored by the United States. Individuals with valid visas issued before that date should not be affected when traveling to the United States.
Banning people because of their religion or nationality is wrong. Tens of thousands of American families are *already* being separated because of this ban and now we estimate over 1 million families will be impacted.
Read the official proclamation.
Read our Fact Sheet.
Does this impact me?
If you or a family member is seeking an immigrant visa to the United States as a national of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar (Burma) or Nigeria, you will be affected and should contact an immigration attorney immediately to get specific legal advice.
If you or a family member hope to obtain an immigrant visa under the diversity lottery program to enter the United States as a national of Sudan or Tanzania, you will be affected and should contact an immigration attorney immediately to get specific legal advice.
Individuals from these countries will be banned from entering the United States unless an exemption applies or they qualify for a waiver (outlined in Presidential Proclamation 9645).
The proclamation does not apply to individuals who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents (green card holders).
The language of the proclamation does not cover individuals who were issued a valid visa before February 21, 2020 (the effective date of the proclamation).
Source: U.S. Dept. of State
How did we get here?
On September 24, 2017, as the provisions of his Muslim Ban 2.0 were set to expire, President Trump released a Presidential Proclamation that extended the ban on nationals from most of the six countries targeted by Muslim Ban 2.0 while imposing new restrictions on others. Muslim Ban 3.0, enacted by President Trump’s Proclamation, initially excluded travelers from eight countries – Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen – and imposed country-specific restrictions on each. This ban applies to nationals from the affected countries who are applying for a visa to enter the United States. On April 10, 2018, Chad was removed from the list of targeted countries. On June 26, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Muslim Ban 3.0. Read our fact sheets for more information.
What can be done to stop this?
Congress must pass the NO BAN Act. It will amend the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion by any future administration.
Throughout U.S. history, laws restricting immigration have been used to prevent Jews, Catholics, Mormons, and Muslims from entering the U.S. or enjoying the same rights and privileges as their fellow Americans. The NO BAN Act will ensure that no president will ever again be able to ban an entire community without accountability.
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