Over the weekend, the Trump administration added the United Kingdom and Ireland to the list of countries subject to the European travel ban (sometimes the “Ban”) it originally announced on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. In addition to prohibiting the entry of aliens who were physically present within the Schengen Area, the Ban now prohibits the entry of “all aliens who were physically present within the United Kingdom, excluding overseas territories outside of Europe, or the Republic of Ireland,” within fourteen days of their travel.

Citizens of the United States, lawful permanent residents, their families, and certain other individuals remain exempt from the Ban.

Like the original Ban, the updated Ban does not prohibit flights to the United States from affected European countries. Instead, it only prohibits the entry of certain persons into the country. Since the original Ban went into effect on Friday, March 13, 2020, thousands of U.S. Citizens and other exempt individuals have entered the U.S. at one of 13 designated airports throughout the country. Hours-long wait times have been reported at some of these airports, including Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Boston Logan (BOS), as officials screen returning passengers for symptoms of the Coronavirus.

U.S. Citizens and other exempt individuals returning from Europe are being asked to self-quarantine for 14 days after their return.

The updated Ban is set forth in a Presidential Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Certain Additional Persons who Pose a risk of Transmitting Coronavirus, issued on March 14, 2020. The updated Ban goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday March 16, 2020.

Stay tuned for further updates on federal Coronavirus response measures affecting the aviation and airport industries.

For further information and analysis on the Ban, please see my prior post here.  The latest Proclamation can be found here.