At the Vice Presidential debate between incumbant Vice President Mike Pence and Sentator Kamala Harris on October 7th, Pence claimed, “Before there were more than five cases in the United States, all people who had returned from China, President Donald Trump did what no other American president had ever done, and that was that he suspended all travel from China.”
President Trump has also touted the “travel ban” on numerous occasions.
While Trump did restrict travel from China, his policy did not restrict ALL travel from China. The restrictions did not apply to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, the spouses of citizens, and the parents and siblings of citizens and permanent residents, in addition to several other exemptions.
Most importantly, the restrictions from China were not enough to stop the spread of the virus to the U.S. In fact, a study published in April, 2020 shows that infections in New York City predominately arose through untracked transmission between the United States and Europe, with limited evidence to support any direct introductions from China to New York City. Read more on the study in this news release from Mount Sinai Health System.
The New York Times reported in April that nearly 40,000 people had flown to the US from China since the restrictions went into effect in early February.
You can read more here about the travel restrictions Trump imposed on China here.
