Calling them “just plain wrong,” President Biden, on January 20, ended restrictions on visa issuance for individuals from many Muslim and African countries.
Under Biden’s new proclamation ending discriminatory bans, Executive Order 13780, from March 6, 2017, and proclamations 9645, 9723, and 9983 have been revoked and are no longer in effect.
Under the revoked measures, certain applicants from Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Yemen were ineligible for immigration visas.
The U.S. Secretary of State has determined that all embassies and consulates will process visa applications from individuals who were subject to the restrictions of the revoked proclamations. These visa applications will be processed according to current COVID-19 related visa processing procedures.
According to the new proclamation, the U.S. Department of State will also develop a proposal in the next 45 days to ensure that individuals whose immigrant visa applications were denied or restricted by proclamations 9645 or 9983 have their applications reevaluated.
“When visa applicants seek entry to the United States, we will apply a rigorous system of individualized vetting,” Biden’s proclamation continued. “But we will not turn our backs on our values with discriminatory bans on entry to the United States.” Source: https://share.america.gov