On September 24, 2017 the Trump administration released a Presidential Proclamation enacting a travel ban that excludes certain individuals from eight countries – Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Individuals from these countries who wish to enter the United States on either an immigrant (permanent admission) or nonimmigrant (temporary) basis are subject to restrictions.
Although it is difficult to estimate the exact number of individuals who may be impacted, we can examine data from the U.S. Census data about immigrants from these countries already living in the United States to get a sense of the economic contribution immigrants from the affected countries are making. The data show that immigrants from the affected countries are typically employed, highly educated, have high incomes, are homeowners, and make economic contributions to the United States. While the social and economic contributions made by these immigrants did not occur over night, with time these immigrants overcame challenges to make significant contributions to the United States. All of this suggests that barring future nationals from these countries could have a negative economic and social impact on the United States.
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April 20, 2018
