Democrats Move To Make Visas Available To Those Denied Under Trump’s Travel Ban

House Democrats moved an amendment in July that would make visas available to those previously rejected or denied entry to the United States due to travel bans that the Trump administration implemented. If passed, the amendment would make diversity lottery visas available to people impacted by the Trump-era bans.

For any visa and other immigration-related questions, contact Attorney Eric Price. Thanks to experience as an ICE prosecutor, Attorney Price has the capacity to understand complex immigration cases from both sides. His ability to properly evaluate and strategize immigration cases has resulted in winning hundreds of cases for his clients both in and out of court. Contact us today at 855-662-2772 for a free case evaluation.

What Was Trump’s Travel Ban?

President Trump issued the first travel ban in 2017. The travel ban barred visas for countries deemed high risk, including:

• Iran
• Libya
• Somalia
• Syria
• Yemen
• Chad (Eventually removed)
• Venezuela
• North Korea
• Kyrgyzstan
• Myanmar
• Nigeria
• Tanzania

Trump said the banned countries failed to meet specific security criteria, including the extent to which they share information on passports and potential bad actors, whether they pose an elevated security risk for crime, terrorism, and illegal immigration.

Critics of the ban called it racist and cruel and called it the “Muslim ban” because the initial countries had large populations of Muslims — also, Trump called for such a ban on the campaign trail. After some modifications and several court challenges, the Supreme Court upheld the travel ban in 2018.

State Department figures show that more than 41,000 people were denied entry into the U.S. since 2017 due to the travel ban.

Understanding The Recent Changes To Trump’s Travel Ban

On the campaign trail, Biden was adamant about ending Trump’s travel ban. Since Biden has been in office, the following changes have happened to the travel ban:

President Biden’s Executive Order

On his first day in office, President Biden overturned the travel ban, inviting those who had visas rejected to reapply. Biden called the ban “a stain on our national conscience.
This move was not enough for some Democrats who are calling for special visas to be made available for citizens of the travel ban countries.

House Democrats DHS Funding Bill

The answer to the lasting impact of the travel ban may lie in a broader Department of Homeland Security funding bill that would secure $52.81 billion in funding for the department and its agencies, including border patrol.

Which Visas Will Be Made Available?

 

Lawmakers also voted to include an amendment that would allow unused visas from 2020 and 2021 to remain available into 2022. This would help the 55,000 winners of the diversity lottery as many weren’t able to be fully processed when COVID shuttered many consulates and embassies and limited their capacity vastly.

• Family-Based Visas and Employment Visas— The amendment would also allow unused family-based visas andemployment-based visas to continue to be available. Typically, any family-based visas that are not used are added to the employment-based cap for the next year — a feature that may balloon employment-based opportunities.
• H-2B— Another amendment included in the DHS bill would allow an additional 64,716 H-2B visas. These visas allow workers to come to the United States for seasonal jobs.
• H-2A— A similar amendment would allow migrant farmworkers to use the H-2A visa in 2022 — regardless of whether their work is seasonal or not.

What Will Be The Effect Of The Proposed Changes?

If the DHS funding bill passes, tens of thousands of immigrants could become eligible to receive family and work-based visas and secure their futures in the U.S.

A recent report found that putting undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship would be extremely beneficial in the nation’s economy, from increased wages for all workers and increased GDP to the creation of hundreds of thousands of new, permanent jobs.

By putting Dreamers, and those eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), on a pathway to citizenship, $1.5 trillion would be added to U.S. GDP per the next decade in addition to creating more than 400,000 new jobs. Studies have also found that this would lead to all Americans seeing higher wages by $600 each year.

What Are Some Next Steps?

If you have been affected by the previous administration’s travel ban, it’s important to find an experienced immigration attorney who will help you claim your rights in this country. If you have any questions about President Biden’s recent executive immigration orders or the new DHS funding bill, don’t hesitate to contact Attorney Eric Price.

Contact Attorney Eric Price Today!

J. Eric Price is nationally known as a “green card lawyer.” Our law firm exclusively practices immigration law. Our dedication and hard work consistently rank us among the best lawyers in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Houston.

Contact Attorney Eric Price today for a free case evaluation and start securing your future in America! You will have the opportunity to ask any questions without feeling rushed. Best of all, the consultation is free of charge.