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Biden ends Trump’s ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries

Immigration advocates hailed Biden's decision, but said undoing the effects of the travel ban won’t happen overnight.

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Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol on Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. — Andrew Harnik - Pool/Getty Images

With the stroke of a pen, President Joe Biden has ended his predecessor’s ban on travelers entering the United States from several Middle Eastern and African nations, fulfilling a campaign pledge to dismantle policies seen as discriminatory against Muslims. 

A week after taking office in January 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syrian, Sudan and Yemen — that he said posed a national security threat. The hastily announced travel ban created scenes of chaos at international airports, a slew of federal lawsuits and protests across the country. 

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