January 22, 2021
Only a few hours after taking the oath of office, President Biden rescinded the so-called “Muslim ban,” an executive order Trump signed in 2017 that banned travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations, including Iran, from entering the US.
The ban was changed several times amid legal challenges and ultimately upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2018.
“The president put an end to the Muslim ban – a policy rooted in religious animus and xenophobia,” Biden’s White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during an evening briefing.
It isn’t clear, however, if the change will make much difference for Iranians seeking to visit the US. The Biden executive order says the US will replace the ban with better screening of visa applicants by strengthening information sharing with foreign governments—information such as criminal records. But Iran won’t share any information with the United States, which may have the effect of leaving visa applications from Iranians in limbo.
The executive order gives 120 days for government agencies to report on current vetting procedures and the extent of information provided by foreign governments.
Furthermore, there is already in effect a major limitation on issuing visas because of the coronavirus epidemic. That isn’t changing and impacts applicants worldwide.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations welcomed the ban or the ban as “an important first step toward undoing the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant policies of the previous administration…. It is an important fulfilment of a campaign pledge to the Muslim community and its allies.”
President Trump signed the ban just days after taking office in 2017. It blocked entry into the US for individuals from mostly Muslim countries: Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Iran. The travel ban was updated later that year to include North Korea and a handful of government officials from Venezuela. The Trump Administration expanded the ban again in January 2020 to include an additional six countries.
The Biden reversal instructs the State Department to restart visa processing for nationals from the affected countries in an effort to “restore fairness and remedy the harms caused by the bans.”
The ban on visas allowed for waivers to be issued. State Department figures show that only 5 percent of those who applied from the effected countries were granted waivers between December 2017 and March 2019.