The executive branch froze the American immigration system for entire nations by memo. Congress must act to restart it.
What the proclamations are
In 2025, the President issued Presidential Proclamation 10949, a travel ban covering a list of countries, and later Presidential Proclamation 10998, which expanded and extended it. Together, they block people from entering the United States based on their nationality— not on anything they have done, not on any finding about them individually.
The ban does not only block new applications. It froze the system at every stage:
- Applications just beginning — petitions that cannot be filed, interviews that cannot be scheduled
- Cases paused mid-process — interviews completed, checks running, decisions on hold
- Visas already approved — people the U.S. government had already cleared, stopped at the finish line
Who is affected
The proclamations block every pathway of the American immigration system:
Who What’s frozen Spouses and fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens Family visas and K-1 petitions — approved and pending Parents, children, and siblings of U.S. citizens Family reunification, including the longest-waiting petitions Lawful permanent residents petitioning family members The family cases of green-card holders themselves Employers and employees EB, H-1B, L-1, and O-1 cases — talent American businesses invited here Students and scholars F-1 and J-1 admissions — people accepted by American universities Diversity visa winners A lottery the U.S. government itself ran — selections that expire by statute while the winners wait Refugee and asylee relatives I-730 follow-to-join — the cases reuniting people America has already granted protection with their spouses and children, stopped indefinitely
The unifying fact: none of these people were blocked by anything they did. They were blocked by where they were born.
The exception process — designed to deny
The State Department says exceptions are available case by case. Its own internal guidance — produced in federal court in Chikumba v. U.S. Department of State, No. 1:26-cv-00332 (D.D.C.) — tells consular officers the opposite: that exceptions should be “used rarely,” and that visiting U.S. citizen family members, work, education, and even hardship are reasons to deny.
A process that denies by design is not a process.
A second federal court has ruled on this system. In A.A. v. State (E.D. Va., July 29, 2026), the court vacated the application of the proclamations to the families of approved asylees — ruling the ban unlawful as applied to follow-to-join cases.
Until December 2025, Proclamation 10949 itself contained an immediate-family exception — the administration’s own policy recognized that separating American citizens from their spouses, parents, and children went too far. That exception was removed by memo. It can be restored.
The constitutional problem
In 8 U.S.C. § 1202, Congress assigned visa adjudication to career consular officers — individualized, case-by-case decisions by trained professionals. Under these proclamations, that authority has been shifted to political appointees.
Congress wrote the immigration laws. Congress assigned the adjudication power. A statute passed by Congress should not be overridden by an internal memo.
What Congress can do
Every fix in this campaign is within Congress’s existing power:
- Hold oversight hearings on the human impact of Proclamations 10949 and 10998 — and invite affected Americans, workers, students, and refugees to testify. Subpoena the State Department’s national interest exception guidance if it won’t be produced voluntarily.
- Confront the Department with its own documents:
How can it claim a functioning exception process when its guidance excludes family, work, education, and hardship travel — and when decisions have been stripped from the consular officers Congress assigned to adjudicate visas under 8 U.S.C. § 1202? - Demand the numbers: How many NIE requests have been submitted since January 1, 2026, and how many granted? The guidance suggests the answer approaches zero for the categories Congress cares about most.
- Pass legislation restoring categorical exceptions for immediate relatives of American citizens, which existed under the June proclamation and were deliberately removed.
- Push USCIS to resume processing benefit requests for affected nationals.
- Preserve DV-2026 eligibility for winners from affected countries
- Demand transparency: how many people are affected, in every category, and what is the real process and timeline — not the process described in press releases.
Hearings compel answers. Questions for the record compel written answers. Document requests put the guidance itself into the open. None of it requires a supermajority. Congress must act.
Our Ask of you
f you believe an American citizen shouldn’t be forced to choose between their country and their spouse — if you believe a worker, student, refugee, or lottery winner who followed the rules shouldn’t have their life frozen indefinitely — call your senators and representative today and say:
“I’m asking you to speak out against the harm caused by Proclamations 10949 and 10998. In Chikumba v. Department of State, the State Department’s own documents show that the national interest exception process excludes family, work, education, and hardship travel, and that exception decisions have been taken away from the consular officers Congress assigned to adjudicate visas. There is no real path forward for the people affected. Please hold hearings and demand the truth.”
Find your members of Congress at congress.gov/contact or call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.