CEDA Condemns Presidential Proclamation Targeting Nationals from Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela
Washington, D.C. – The Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas (CEDA) strongly condemns the Trump administration’s June 4 proclamation suspending or restricting entry into the United States for nationals of 19 countries.
In the case of the Americas, the proclamation includes Cuba, Haiti, and Venezuela, three countries facing severe political, economic, and humanitarian crises. The measures, which will take effect June 9, bar all Haitian nationals from entry into the United States and suspend most immigrant and nonimmigrant travel from Cuba and Venezuela. These sweeping restrictions are a devastating intensification of the administration’s anti-immigrant agenda, and they come on the heels of the Supreme Court's recent decisions allowing the Trump administration to terminate key humanitarian protections like the CNHV (Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, Venezuela) parole process and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans.
“The proclamation is rife with contradictions,” said María José Espinosa, CEDA’s Executive Director. “On the one hand, Section 6(c) proclaims that no visa issued before the proclamation will be revoked, but Section 3(b)(ii) suspends the entry of Cubans on B1/B2, F, M, and J visas into the United States. Clarification is needed.”
“Regardless, these measures represent a deeply troubling escalation in the criminalization of migrants from the Americas,” said Espinosa. “By framing these bans as a matter of national security, the US masks its true intent: to use vulnerable individuals as bargaining chips to extract political concessions and force migratory agreements, further destabilizing the region and forcing many into even riskier migration journeys.”
A return to exclusionary policies undermines the values of dignity, fairness, and welcome that have long defined the best of U.S. leadership. CEDA joins Haitian, Cuban, and Venezuelan civil society leaders in calling on Congress and the American public to reject this latest attack on migrants and to work toward a foreign policy rooted in dignity, protection, and regional cooperation.