People from seven international locations won’t be able to journey to the USA beginning Thursday, based on up to date CBP steerage obtained by ABC Information.
Earlier this yr, President Donald Trump signed government orders limiting journey from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria — with these restrictions now going into impact Jan. 1.
This is applicable to each immigrants and nonimmigrants, based on the CBO doc dated Dec. 29.
The White Home says the restrictions are for nationwide safety and public security causes, whereas immigrant advocates say the ban targets African and Muslim international locations.
President Donald Trump speaks throughout a joint press convention with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Seaside, Fla., December 29, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The journey ban continues restrictions on these from Afghanistan; Burma (Myanmar); Chad; Republic of the Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Haiti; Iran; Libya; Somalia; Sudan; Yemen from getting into into the USA.
There are additionally partial journey restrictions on folks from Venezuela and Cuba, based on the doc.
It comes amid new restrictions on H1-B visas taking impact earlier this week.
The H-1B visa program permits employers to rent noncitizens which have a specialised talent or commerce and was beforehand performed considerably randomly.
The modifications the administration made, which went into impact on Monday, enable for a weighted system to prioritize people that may make a better wage.
“The present random choice means of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who had been primarily in search of to import international staff at decrease wages than they’d pay American staff,” mentioned U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
“The brand new weighted choice will higher serve Congress’ intent for the H-1B program and strengthen America’s competitiveness by incentivizing American employers to petition for higher-paid, higher-skilled international staff,” Tragesser mentioned. “With these regulatory modifications and others sooner or later, we are going to proceed to replace the H-1B program to assist American companies with out permitting the abuse that was harming American staff.”
Rosanna Beradi, an immigration legal professional, mentioned the change will restrict those that qualify.
“The change will severely restrict the variety of candidates who qualify below the H-1B program,” she instructed ABC Information. “It can make it even more durable for worldwide college students to stay within the U.S. after commencement, which can exacerbate the mind drain. The brand new rule successfully eliminates the lottery system and prioritizes excessive wage earners.”
There’s 85,000 whole H1-B visa purposes, based on USCIS.
It comes because the administration has prioritized tightening visa restrictions for different international locations.
