Over 700,000 Americans are of Pakistani descent and over 11,000 Pakistanis are studying in the US. Because of the report that Pakistan may be included among nations in a new U.S. travel ban, there is considerable concern in Pakistan among families of the students and also among the students themselves.
The Council on American-Islamic Nations (CAIR) has also stepped and advised all those in the US on a student, tourist or work visa from the countries which may possibly be included in the ban to refrain from travelling outside the US for the next 30 days.
From my own understanding of the ban if and when it comes into effect, it varies from country to country and a complete ban was applied the first time when Trump was in office on North Korea, Iran and Yemen and after 90 days was modified (for some nations) to allow certain visa categories.
The concern right now is of people who are in the US on student visas or even tourist visas - what should they do and what happens if Pakistan ends up being part of the ban.
One will have just wait and see - as for students who are in the US on an F-1 or J-1 visa, the way the ban is likely to work is that they could come under increased monitoring and screening either while they are in the US or when they exit the US and return to resume their studies.
Let’s also take a look at the first travel ban in some detail when Donald Trump was elected president in the 2016 presidential election.
In 2022 Pakistani Americans had, according to the American Community Survey, the fourth highest median income for households ranked by ethnicity at $106,281 per year. For a population of 625,000 Pakistani Americans, that’s around a total annual income pool of around $64 billion
At that time several Muslim countries as well as several African countries including Nigeria and Somalia were included in the ban as well. A total ban on visitors was imposed on nationals of several countries and most of them were Muslim-majority nations. As a result the ban at that time was called a “Muslim ban”, even by the then Trump administration itself.
The initial restrictions were for 90 days and then renewed for another 90 days and in some cases they were taken back, or visitors from certain categories of visas were permitted entry.
Eventually it wasn’t till 2021 that the travel ban was repealed by the Biden administration, and it was allowed by the US Supreme Court from its institution in late January 2025.
Coming back to March 2025, no one other than US President Donald Trump himself “specially thanked” Pakistan for the arrest and extradition of a terrorist wanted by the U.S. in connection with a bombing in Afghanistan that killed 13 American soldiers and over 160 Afghans.
And the following day that this happened came the news - reported initially by Reuters and quoting three unnamed US government sources - Pakistan could be among the countries included in a new travel ban.
That is in any case a terrible idea. America is Pakistan’s largest trading partner. Over 700,000 Americans have roots in Pakistan and tens of thousands of students have studied or are studying in American colleges and universities. Tens of thousands of Pakistanis travel to the US every year to visit relatives or for tourism to enjoy America’s natural sites or its many cities and their attractions.
The students and the visitors spend hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more, in the US economy helping create American jobs. In 2022 Pakistani Americans had, according to the American Community Survey, the fourth highest median income for households ranked by ethnicity at $106,281 per year. For a population of 625,000 Pakistani Americans, that’s around a total annual income pool of around $64 billion.
To add to this, Pakistan has currently one of the largest Fulbright programmes in the world and those who have studied from it have by and large returned and contributed to the country’s economy and community and this should be seen by the US government as a good investment that will reap considerable returns in the long term.
Furthermore, Pakistan’s military has close ties with the US military - Sharifullah’s arrest and extradition is a case in point - and a travel ban is going to be counterproductive and will definitely ruffle this cooperation. And it could very well push Pakistan further into China’s camp - which isn’t something that the US would want.