New York - The US has treaties with some of the targeted counties that allow investors to visit the US under the E-2 visa programme, Christine Alden, an immigration attorney in Miami, said in reaction to new travel restrictions by President Donald Trump, blocking visitors from seven predominantly Muslim nations.
"Those people won’t be allowed to come run their businesses. Oil companies, tech companies and others that depend on foreign workers may see them stranded overseas," said Alden.
"Lawyers are trying to makes sense of what happened. It’s all really far-reaching. It’s going to affect businesses, families and students going back to school.
Global airlines are struggling to comply with new travel restrictions after being caught flat-footed by Trump’s executive order.
US carriers didn’t get advance notice of the travel ban or briefings from government officials on how it should be implemented, people familiar with the matter said.
The order was causing chaos at airports in the US and abroad as border agents blocked travellers from entering the country and airlines barred visa-holders from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, as well as people from those countries who are lawful US residents, from getting on planes to the country.
“We are aware of the directive and are working with the federal government to comply,” United Continental Holdings spokesperson Luke Punzenberger said in a statement.
The president’s order has the potential to impose costs on the airlines, which are struggling to understand its terms, said Robert Mann, president of aviation consultancy R.W. Mann & Co. Carriers are responsible for returning passengers to where their travel began if they were brought to the US improperly, he said.
“It’s very confusing for airlines,” he said in an interview. “They literally don’t have a reference point now on how they can accommodate their customers.”
Airlines follow a detailed set of government regulations specifying who is allowed into the US based on news reports. Mann said it appears that Trump issued his order without giving carriers a chance to change their existing rule books.
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