BRIEF: Trump expands travel ban to include six additional countries
On Jan. 31, President Donald Trump signed a new order to expand his ongoing travel ban to include people from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania. This order will go into effect Feb. 22.
Trump signed the original entry ban on Jan. 27, 2017, as Executive Order 13769. The order was followed by lawsuits three days later with the argument that the ban was an abuse of power and that it targeted religious groups. The original travel ban included Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
“The travel ban does not affect international students,” said Gigi Do, assistant vice president for global learning and strategy, and senior international officer at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. “They will be able to come to the U.S. on temporary visas, such as those for foreign workers, tourists and students. Non-immigrant visas, such as the F-1 student visa, will still be issued if the applicant meets the requirements for those visas.”
Current international students are unaffected by the ban. Future international students will still go through the same steps of applying for a student visa and completing a college application as a foreign student. However, if international students from the affected countries were to travel, they would need to speak with an immigration attorney first as they may run into issues returning into the U.S. Relatives of international students from banned countries will not be allowed to visit students or attend commencement ceremonies.
Immigrants from Sudan and Tanzania will be barred from the U.S. Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which awards green cards to immigrants after an application process and lottery-like selection process. The new ban will not affect tourists, business or non-immigrant travel.
For more information on international student admissions, visit www.uhcl.edu/admissions/apply/international/.
