Trump's travel ban cuts lifeline for Haitians facing security crisis

As US President Donald Trump’s new travel ban goes into effect on Monday, Haiti is one of the 12 countries left reeling from its impact.

It is overrun by gangs and relies heavily on international aid organisations amid its humanitarian and security crisis.

Haiti will likely be hard hit by the ban which effectively cuts a lifeline for families and businesses.

Haitian-American, Elvanise Louis-Juste, was at Newark airport in the United States on Sunday, waiting for her flight home to Florida.

She said Haiti is “not in the best shape as it was before” and that many Haitians wanted to come to the US to escape violence in their country.

“There are a lot of just kidnappings, killings, it’s just really bad right now. And I feel like people need to escape to have the chance to live life, literally,” she said.

“I have family in Haiti, so it’s pretty upsetting to see and hear,” she added.

The new ban does not revoke visas previously issued to people from countries on the list, according to guidance issued Friday to all US diplomatic missions.

However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting Monday.

But in Haiti over the weekend, there did not seem to be a significant rush of people wanting to travel to the United States.

At the only functioning airport, passengers boarding planes to the US were hesitant to speak to the media because of fears of exposure and possible retaliation upon their arrival.

Last week, the decision elicited strong reactions from Haitians, who inundated social media and called radio stations, labelling the US president as "racist".

Trump’s new proclamation also applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Many immigration experts say the new ban is designed to beat any court challenge by focusing on the visa application process.

They say it also appears to be more carefully crafted than a hastily written executive order, issued during Trump's first term in office, that denied entry to citizens of mainly Muslim countries.