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US clarifies: Entry ban does not apply to Israelis born in 7 Muslim-majority countries

Trump’s ban on travelers and immigrants from seven designated countries does not apply to Israelis originating from those Muslim-majority states.  

The US embassy in Israel issued a statement on Tuesday clarifying the scope of President Donald Trump’s executive order, which bans the entry of nationals from seven Mideast and African Muslim-majority countries, and how it may affect Israelis originating from those countries.

The embassy stated that Israelis born in the seven designated countries do not fall under the ban, unless they continue to hold citizenship from those countries, which is generally not the case.

“If you have a currently valid U.S. visa in your Israeli passport and were born in Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen, and do not have a valid passport from one of these countries, your visa was not cancelled and remains valid,” the statement said.

“Similarly, we continue to process visa applications for applicants born in those countries, so long as they do not have a valid passport from one of those countries and have not otherwise declared themselves to be a national of one of those countries. Authorization to enter the United States is always determined at the port of entry,” the embassy clarified in its statement.

The clarification was issued following the Israel’s Foreign Ministry’s request for clarification from the US State Department.

The executive order imposed a 90-day ban on nationals of those seven Muslim countries from entering the United States.

The ban could have affected some 140,000 Israelis. Most of them are over the age of 65 and fled the Muslim countries as children. The majority do not hold citizenship from their countries of birth. However, their Israeli passports state their place of birth, which caused confusion among Israelis.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News