Trump travel ban: U.S. visas to Iranians down 52 percent

on June 14, 2021 | 11:48:26

The number of US visa issued to Iranian citizens affected by Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban sank by about 52 percent compared to numbers from last year, The villages Suntimes reports.

According to the report, visas issued to Iranians have fallen by 52% and Iranians are now subjected to months of inter-agency background checks and forced to hand over years of travel history and social media accounts to immigration officials.

An earlier review of the data by Politico showed that for the seven countries targeted in Trump’s first executive order—Yemen, Libya, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Iraq—the number of visas issued was down significantly between 2016 and 2017. (Trump omitted Iraq from his revised executive order, issued on March 6.) Visas to the six countries in the revised order were down by 55 percent from 2016; this includes a 68 percent drop in visas issued to Somalis and a 52 percent drop for Iranians.

The number of non-immigrant visas issued to Iranians dropped to 1,572 in March from 2,450 per month on average in 2016, according to a Reuters analysis of preliminary government data released in April.

Iranians also received fewer immigrant visas, which are granted to family members of U.S. citizens or those with jobs in the United States, than the average in previous years - 393 received immigrant visas in March, compared to 644 on average per month in 2016 and nearly 600 on average per month in 2015 and 2014.

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