President Biden Strikes Down Muslim Travel Ban

Nikki Breeland • January 24, 2021

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      On January 31, 2020, Former President Donald Trump expanded his “Muslim Ban” by adding Myanmar, Eritra, Kyrgystan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania to a list of countries that included Libya, Yemen, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Somalia, and Venezuela. This ban had no expiration date. However, on January 20, 2021, just under a year from the expansion, current President Joe Biden issued his own Presidential Proclamation repealing the travel ban. President Biden states in his proclamation,


“The United States was built on a foundation of religious freedom and tolerance, a principle enshrined in the United States Constitution. Nevertheless, the previous administration enacted a number of Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations that prevented certain individuals from entering the United States — first from primarily Arab and Muslim countries, and later, from largely African countries. Those actions are a stain on our national conscience and are inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all.”


The most important thing or our clients to take away from this, is that all consulates and embassies are now ordered to resume processing of visas. Additionally, if you applied for a waiver under these bans, your pending visa should be expeditiously adjudicated. If your application was denied due to these bans, your applications are now likely to be permitted a review. Once the Department of State puts in place the necessary procedure for denied cases, we will be better prepared to answer any questions about the process of reopening any denied cases.


For more information, please see the following resources:



If you have any questions about what this Presidential Proclamation means for you, please feel free to schedule a consultation with one of our experienced attorneys. We look forward to working with you. 

This blog is not intended to be legal advice and nothing here should be construed as establishing an attorney client relationship. Please schedule a consultation with an immigration attorney before acting on any information read here.



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Nikki Breeland

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