Governance
Biden Reinstates Europe Travel Ban, Adds South Af By Michelle Baran
A NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER issued by President Joe Biden on January 25 reinstated a ban on travel to the United States from Europe and Brazil, and it comes as little surprise. After former President Donald Trump lifted the Europe and Brazil travel bans on January 18—just two days before the end of his term—White House press secretary and Biden spokesperson Jen Psaki immediately responded that the incoming Biden administration would not carry out Trump’s directive. “On the advice of our medical team, the [Biden] administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26,” Psaki tweeted on January 18. True to the tweet, Biden has signed a new order that maintains that foreign nationals who have been in the European Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, or Brazil in the last 14 days are barred from entering the United States—upholding a ban on inbound travel from those destinations 58
March-April 2021
that has been in place since mid-March 2020. Biden’s January 25 Presidential Proclamation also adds South Africa to the list of countries from which foreign nationals are now barred from entering the United States, a list that includes China and Iran. The new order cites variants of COVID-19 that have emerged in the U.K., Brazil, and South Africa as among the reasons that the CDC has concluded that these ongoing travel restrictions are needed. Exceptions to the ban include U.S. citizens and permanent residents, as well as the spouses, parents, legal guardians, siblings, and children under the age of 21 of citizens and permanent residents. Also exempted are those traveling to assist the U.S. government in the containment of the pandemic, air and sea crew members, diplomats, foreign officials, some members of international organizations and NATO, and U.S. Armed Forces members (and their spouses and children). DAWN
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