Mr. John Stahl:

-----in many cases. That is what leads to the issues of the undocumented here, unfortunately. The build-up results from the way the system is currently shaped, which is that if you do come to the US and overstay your visa, you are, in a sense, trapped in the US, because if you depart the US after an overstay, you are barred from then returning. That then forces most people to have to remain in the US and hope for a change or a pathway to open up, of which a few are available for some in the US who have overstayed. As there are not many such options currently, however, it forces people to get stuck in the US.

Now, with the pandemic and the Covid-19 restrictions that are in place, it is also impacting legal immigrants in the US, that is, those who are in the US on proper temporary work visas or student visas. They are not able to travel outside the country or go back home and they cannot travel back with the bans currently in place. They are legally doing the right thing, yet they are still trapped in the US and are unable to travel home for funerals or weddings and such. Hopefully, a logical system will be set up that is based more on science, rather than just a strict ban, which will allow people to go home if they can show proof of a negative test result. They already have to show proof of a negative test result to come back to the US. Everyone - citizens, green card holders and visa holders - have to show proof of a negative test result to return. However, showing proof of vaccination seems to be the next logical step for those people. Hopefully, that answers the question.