The United States has temporarily stopped green-card holders from entering the country if they have traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past 21 days.
The order was issued on Friday as part of efforts to stop Ebola from spreading into the US. Earlier travel rules only banned non-US citizens who had recently visited these countries, while US citizens and permanent residents were exempt.
"HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] and CDC [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] have determined that permitting the director of CDC or other secretarial delegate the discretion to prohibit entry of certain lawful permanent residents is reasonably required in the interest of public health," the order reads.
The new order stated that green-card holders may have stronger family and community ties outside the US than American citizens, making the travel restriction less difficult for them.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said US citizens returning from the affected countries can now enter through two airports - Washington Dulles Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The CDC has also expanded Ebola screening at the Atlanta airport.
"The rule does not permanently bar lawful permanent residents from returning to the United States," a Friday statement from the CDC said. "Instead, it gives CDC discretionary authority to restrict entry when needed and allowed by law."
Officials said the move is partly due to limited resources available to control dangerous infectious diseases. At present, 18 people are being kept in quarantine at the University of Nebraska after leaving the hantavirus-affected cruise ship MV Hondius.
In another statement, the CDC said the temporary restrictions on green-card holders are meant to balance public safety with emergency response efforts.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has raised the risk level of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola to "very high" in the DRC. The WHO has also declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda an international public health emergency.
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