Gwendolyn Kull

The vaccine requirement for foreign travelers may be one of the most ineffective and capricious “public health” policies ever created. It still exists to the detriment of binational families kept apart by its draconian prohibitions and at a cost of billions of dollars in revenue to the US economy while not having any effect on preventing disease. 

To make this abundantly clear for the public: Presidential Proclamation 10294 requiring non-citizen non-immigrants be vaccinated to enter the US will only end if President Biden rescinds it, Congress repeals it, or the Judiciary strikes it down. To date, no lawsuits have been filed challenging the ban on foreign visitors. 

The US Travel Association is now pressing the Administration and Congress to end the travel ban. While the lobby’s focus last year had primarily been on reducing visa wait times, its focus quickly shifted to prioritizing ending covid restrictions following the PHE announcement. CEO Geoff Freeman strongly questioned Biden’s decision to end the emergency in May: “but why wait til [sic] May? We have the power right now to remove this requirement to bring travelers back into the country.”

Fiancés and other nonimmigrant family members cannot reunite with their loved ones after years separated. Unfortunately, my family will remain divided, just like countless others, until this Administration decides whether it will defend our Constitution, freedoms, and economy on the world stage or keep doubling down on failed policies until there’s no republic left.