Trump’s Travel Ban Now Demands Photo Albums
New State Department memo requires spouses and kids to prove family ties with photos, chat logs, even DNA tests.
WASHINGTON — A newly disclosed State Department memo shows the Trump administration has added sweeping documentation requirements for even the narrow categories of family-based immigrant visas exempted from the president’s latest travel ban, creating what advocates say is a new barrier for applicants in conflict zones and the Global South.
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The June 6 cable, obtained by the Red Eagle Law Firm through litigation, directs U.S. embassies to demand “clear and convincing evidence” of family ties before granting visas to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens from 19 countries whose nationals are otherwise barred from entry. For the first time, consular officers are instructed to require photos, travel records, communication logs, and in some cases DNA tests — even for spouses, children, and parents who would ordinarily qualify for exemptions under immigration law
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“Immediate Family Immigrant Visas (IR-1/CR-1, IR-2/CR-2, IR-5) [must show] clear and convincing evidence of identity and family relationship, e.g., DNA and other reliable documents,” the memo states. Applicants who cannot produce such proof are to be refused under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
An email sent this week by the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia, underscores how the rules are being implemented. It tells applicants their previously refused cases may be reopened only if they redo medical exams and submit proof of relationship that could include “photos that show the relationship,” “emails, chat logs, letters,” “boarding passes, hotel receipts,” or prior DNA test results.
Immigration lawyers warn the policy could strand families who fled war or poverty and lack records. “In many of these countries, people don’t have photo albums or archived chat logs to prove they love their spouse or child,” said a legal advocate who reviewed the memo. “DNA testing is expensive, invasive, and in many cases impossible in conflict zones.”
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The proclamation, issued June 4 and effective June 9, bars entry of immigrants and visitors from 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Venezuela, and Yemen. While previous Trump-era bans carved out broad exceptions for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, the new policy narrows those pathways by layering evidentiary hurdles that could delay or derail family reunification.
The State Department memo makes clear that “all visa decisions are national security decisions” and instructs consular officers to refuse applicants under the proclamation if no exceptions apply, regardless of other grounds of ineligibility.
For families separated by war or exile, that means yet another obstacle. As one attorney put it: “They’ve turned love itself into a document you have to prove.”
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