(6 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
La Guaira, Venezuela - 06 June 2025
1. Various of Venezuelan community college student Ivanna De Gregorio (right) and her mom Irene De Gregorio (left) hugging and crying as they say goodbye
2. Ivanna and Irene walking holding hands
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ivanna De Gregorio, student:
“It came as a surprise because I was going to spend my entire break here."
4. Irene De Gregorio looking at phone
5. De Gregorio showing Whatsapp group created with other families of students that are planning to go back to the U.S. before Monday
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Irene De Gregorio, mother of student:
“In view of the whole issue, a WhatsApp group was created with all the classmates who are in Venezuela because it's summer and they all came to see their families. So, the group was created and we agreed on changing the flights as soon as possible before the 9th to avoid anything. Because some say they could enter (after the ban) but others said they couldn't. So the interpretations of it (the proclamation) were varied, so we decided to change the flight for today. It was originally for August 11 and we changed it for today."
7. Ivanna entering migration check up
8. Gregoria and Ivanna's aunt walking away
9. Various of people at airport
STORYLINE:
Venezuelan community college student Ivanna De Gregorio was enjoying the summer in her home country when the travel ban was announced, prompting her to switch her return to the U.S. from Aug. 11 to Friday.
She did not want to risk jeopardizing the student visa that allows her to study at a Mississippi school on a tennis scholarship.
“It came as a surprise because I was going to spend my entire break here,” she said standing in line at the airport outside Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, with her mom, who does not have a tourist visa and teared up at the thought of not knowing when she will see her only child again.
Ivana, who has played tennis for 14 years, said it was a lifelong project.
No commercial airline offers direct flights between the South American country and the U.S. So, De Gregorio’s itinerary includes three flights: first to Bogota, then to Atlanta, and lastly to New Jersey, where she will live with an uncle until her school reopens in August.
“In view of the whole issue, a WhatsApp group was created with all the classmates who are in Venezuela… and we agreed on changing the flights as soon as possible,” Ivana's mother, Irene De Gregorio said.
“The interpretations of (the ban) were varied. So, well, we decided to change the ticket for today.”
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term, announcing that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions.
The new ban includes Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
There will be hei... [truncated]
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Video at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbYmoxmnJ0o