MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - President Trump’s travel ban has gone into effect, blocking people from 12 different countries from entering the United States completely while severely restricting travelers from seven others.
At Miami International Airport on Monday, hundreds of international travelers arrived from countries that are affected by the ban.
Alexis Geraldo, a U.S. resident from Cuba, landed in Miami and told 7News his wife was supposed to accompany him but now, that’s no longer possible.
“I was going to bring my wife but with the travel ban, I can’t,” he said. “We had hope. I brought my son six months ago and we were hopeful to bring my wife and my other baby and now we can’t.”
Geraldo is among the many of South Floridians who are reeling from the effects of the ban, wondering what comes next.
The Trump administration says the ban prioritizes national security.
“We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm,” said U.S. President Donald Trump in a recently posted social media video.
But some U.S. residents, like Ilind Joseph, from Haiti, says the full visa restrictions on their country will be very hard for those back home.
“It’s going to be hard on them. It’s not going to be easy on them,” said Joseph.
Other Haitians at the airport told 7News that, while they feel fortunate of holding citizenship in the United States, their friends and family aren’t so lucky.
“A lot of my friends, Haitian-born aren’t allowed to travel or go to college for instance. They already applied, got accepted but now they cant go and I think that’s tough on them,” said Liam Prosper.
At the U.S. embassy in Cuba, hundreds of Cubans were seen in line for scarce visas.
“My family is everything,” he said in Spanish.
As travelers arrived in Miami from Cuba Monday morning, some citizens and green card holders told 7News there was no additional scrutiny from immigration officers.
One woman, Magra, says she regularly visits her daughter and grandchildren in Cuba.
“It’s difficult, but that’s what the president decided,” Magra told 7News in Spanish. “We hope that after his four years, the United States returns to the way it was.”
But other said this decision will further split families who have left their families seeking political asylum.
“I like Donald Trump, but I think he’s doing wrong,” one man told 7News. “Because you don’t fix the problem when you isolate people, you fix problems when you help people.”
According to the U.S. State Department, visas previously issued to people from the countries experiencing a full ban will not be revoked. However, visa applicants who have yet to receive their visas will be denied.
“As immigrant communities, when we are here, we count on our families to visit us,” said Tessa Petit, an activist and Haitian immigrant. “We count on them. That is what keeps us connected now; this is definitely going to separate our communities.”
As of Monday afternoon, the State Department was working on its criteria for travelers who are exempt from the ban.
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