Data Sources: U.S. State Department, Washington Post, DHS, Council on Foreign RelationsData Visual: Semmi W.

A new(ish) U.S. travel ban took effect this week; limiting 19 countries from entry. Of the total, 12 nations are completely blocked while 7 have received partial travel bans— allowing entry under certain conditions (not clearly defined).

According to the latest available data (via Fiscal Year 2023), those 19 countries collectively received 236,600 U.S. visas. This number includes visas across all categories, including tourist, work, student, and family-based visas.

Meanwhile, just five countries were issued over 4.36 million visas (across all visa categories) during the same year. As the map displays, these countries (Mexico, India, Colombia, etc.) represent the top nations who are granted legal entry to the U.S. Their approval (as a group) is more than 18 times the number granted to all of the banned countries combined.

U.S. President Donald Trump explained that the travel ban was issued as a response to a recent antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado. It is believed to be part of the administration’s efforts to enhance national security. The attacker is an Egyptian national. Yet, Egypt is not listed as a banned country.

Note: FY 2023 was used for this analysis because full FY 2024 visa data has not yet been released by the U.S. State Department.

As the BBC reports, certain types of people who come from the banned countries are exempt from the new policy. The travel ban does not apply to adoptions, competing professional athletes, government employees with Special Immigrant Visas, and more. View the full list of exemptions here.

Do you think the new U.S. travel ban will expand to more countries?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Thanks for reading. :) More visuals and stats to come on GFW. Subscribe below for more data.— Semmi W.