Considered one of Donald Trump’s first acts as president in 2017 was to institute a ban on journey to the U.S. from a number of nations that had Muslim majorities. Throughout his marketing campaign, he vowed to revive the ban if he received once more.
“We are going to seal our border and convey again the journey ban,” Trump stated at an occasion in Washington in September.
On Monday, his first day in workplace for a second time period, Trump issued an government order that requires “enhanced screening and vetting” for any vacationers in search of visas to go to the U.S.
As well as, inside 60 days of the order, a report is to be submitted to the President figuring out international locations all through the world “for which vetting and screening data is so poor as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from these international locations.”
Which international locations have been affected final time?
Beginning with an government order in January 2017, the Trump Administration tried to quickly ban entry into the U.S. by residents from a number of Muslim-majority international locations.
The administration’s effort to do that was initially blocked in court docket. A second try was additionally blocked. However in June 2018, the ultimate model of the ban was in the end upheld by the Supreme Court docket.
The preliminary ban focused 5 Muslim-majority international locations: Yemen, Syria, Iran, Libya, and Somalia. It additionally put restrictions on nationals from Venezuela and North Korea.
Then, in 2020, the ban was expanded to incorporate six extra international locations – Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania.
What have been the restrictions?
The U.S. suspended the issuance of each immigrant and non-immigrant visas, together with these for tourism and short-term enterprise, for a number of of the international locations.
It allowed exceptions for college students and those that have established “vital contacts” within the U.S. Non-immigrant visas weren’t affected for Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Nigeria.
Most North Koreans have been barred from getting into the U.S., whereas the ban on Venezuelan nationals largely utilized to authorities officers.
The CEOs of Expedia Inc., Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Lyft, and Uber condemned the ban and it set off years of authorized battles.
After President Trump’s time period completed, President Joe Biden rescinded the ban on his first day of presidency in 2021.
What was Muslim tourism to the U.S. like earlier than the ban, and after it was dropped?
In 2016, earlier than the journey bans, CrescentRating‘s 2017 International Muslim Journey Index, which gave the U.S. an total index rating of 48.6 (on a scale of 0 to 100) for Muslim tourism.
Index scores are derived from a wide range of standards, together with how journey manufacturers cater to Muslim vacationers, security, visa necessities, entry to prayer areas and lodging choices.
The U.S. scored 26 within the 2024 index for the overall security of Muslim vacationers, a giant lower, in comparison with 62 within the 2017 report.
The general index didn’t totally recuperate within the years for the reason that Biden Administration lifted the ban in 2021: By 2024, the general rating had recovered solely to 43, placing the U.S. in 53rd spot globally.
Nevertheless, by way of arrivals to the U.S., the international locations included within the ban weren’t within the high 12 bringing tourism to the U.S.
The highest 12 international locations with the very best variety of guests to the U.S. are India, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, South Korea, Japan and China, in response to the Worldwide Commerce Administration.
What’s Subsequent?
Worldwide guests from all international locations to the U.S. “continued to extend dramatically in 2023,” with 66.5 million arrivals, in response to the Worldwide Commerce Administration.
This represents a rise of 31% from 2022. It predicted that whole worldwide guests would proceed to extend considerably over the subsequent two years, from each the highest 12 international locations and from different international locations.
