President Donald Trump's wide-ranging travel ban officially started early Monday morning, impacting citizens from a dozen nations and imposing heightened restrictions on several others. Despite the significant policy change, Houston Airport System officials announced that they did not anticipate any disruptions or delays for travelers passing through Houston airports.
A spokesperson for the Houston Airport System said that President Donald Trump's expanded travel ban, which started at 12:01 a.m. Monday would not likely cause significant delays or changes to the way airports operate for passengers in Houston.
On Wednesday, President Trump stated that the ban would primarily affect individuals from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. There were also stricter rules for people traveling from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
According to the Houston Airport System, the new travel ban would not directly impact its operations. Officials at the airport said that there were no nonstop flights between Houston and any of the 12 countries that were subject to the full travel ban. This meant that there would not be any direct effects on planes leaving or arriving from those countries.
According to a video President Trump shared on social media on Thursday, the recent attack in Boulder, Colorado, showed how dangerous it is for international travelers who came to the U.S. without proper documentation or who overstayed their temporary visas. In that attack, though, a guy from Egypt is accused of hurting at least 15 people. Egypt is not one of the 12 countries that are entirely banned from travel.
This new travel ban was similar to one that Trump implemented during his first term in 2017. The first ban occurred with little warning, causing widespread misunderstanding and protests at airports across the United States.
There were numerous legal issues with the 2017 ban, but ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump had the authority to impose such limits. From the point of view of how the Houston airport works, this time the execution was better planned.
