It is time to reopen the US to Europe.

In March 2020, the Trump administration limited travel from the Schengen area into the US for people (except citizens and green card holders) who had spent any of the past 14 days in that area, at the height the of COVID-19 pandemic. The restriction has remained in place since then regardless of the pandemic evolution, and has been reinstated by the Biden administration after it was set to expire. 

In June 2020, the Trump administration limited visa and greencard issuance outside the US, citing the protection of the economy (and of American jobs) as a rationale. If the Biden administration curtailed this policy, in practice most consulates haven't resumed visa issuance - and in particular not consulates in countries affected by the travel ban, which have been refusing to issue visas while the ban is in place, a position that has been deemed illegal and is currently challenged in court.

One mechanism (National Interest Exception) has been put in place to allow some people to travel and get visas issued, but the Biden administration very strongly tightened it in March 2021, marking it virtually impossible for most work-related immigrants (visas E, L, H, O, P and some visas J) to obtain it.

All of these policies haven been established without end in sight, systematically renewed from one month to the next, and without pandemic benchmarks or levels that would justify their removal.

While everybody understands the need for limiting travel at the height of a global pandemic, safe travel has been very largely well managed and well documented in the past year : quarantines, tests, masks and now vaccines have time and again proved to keep air travelers - and the people around them - safe.

The stories of non-immigrant visa holders stuck on either side of the Atlantic are those of separated families, couples unable to get married, people unable to access essential services, children unable to attend grandparents funerals, relatives unable to visit newborns or to support sick family members... Those are not the stories of people passing on a fun trip for the summer. Those are the stories of people who work, love, pray, pay taxes, own property, consume in America, but have been deprived of their families for more than a year.

We call America home. We have built our lives in this country. Our families are not here, but they matter. Many of us had hopes the Biden administration would restore dignity and respect to the immigration process. More than six months after inauguration, we are still waiting for the administration to build back better. Concretely, the Biden administration has made it harder for non-immigrant visa holders from Europe to travel to the US than the Trump administration ever did - all while the pandemic situation has largely been getting better on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to the vaccination campaigns.

Immigration policy is both extremely political and stupidly technical. Including current visa holders in the exception to the 14-day Schengen ban would be completely invisible to most Americans (who logically assume that people who already have a valid visa are in fact able to come and go from the land of the free) and life saving for many immigrants. Yet, it can be politically weaponized one way or another, and tends to be simply avoided (by this administration). As we enter National Immigant Heritage month, we are expecting more than a proclamation.

Europe is set to reopen to Americans this week and has been demanding reciprocity, whitout a clear sign on the American side yet. It is time the Biden administration shows it knows the worth of its immigration population.

Choosing everyday to keep enforcing Trump's executive orders is, in fact, validating Trump's immigration policy.

Keeping a blanket travel ban in place while vaccination rates approach herd immunity is, in fact, implying that vaccines do not work.

The following steps would end unnecessary pain while not jeopardizing public safety:

• Enforce the issuance of approved visas even in countries still subject to travel restrictions, so as to clear the backlog of visas, limit consulate-shopping (which encourages more travel!), and more generally follow the law
• Wave the NIE requirement for all non-immigrant visa holders, like it is already waved for green card holders, and for foreign students, journalists and diplomats. Such a step could be taken gradually, by including only fully vaccinated visa holders first, and setting pandemic benchmarks and timeline for a more general opening.

We understand it may take longer to reopen to any type of travel - like leisure and tourism - or that it will be necessary to keep documenting and justifying the purpose of trips (which visas usually do) as well as strict distanciation and safety measures. We are not demanding to be reckless - we are asking for the opportunity, after two years, to safely visit our families.